Healing
by Apherion
Summary: To disappear hurt and to reappear unscathed is impossible. Healing will begin once unsevered ties end. Sakura Itachi
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Starts in Sakura's POV, there may be two versions for this story.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 1: Coming Back**

She woke from her dreams, losing sleep every night because of crying, this was not exactly the time she longed to awaken. Raking a hand through her travel-worn pink hair, she smiled wanly. She shook her head, looking at the time, and then falling upon the pillows once more. She would not let him control her happiness anymore.

* * *

He sat up in his sleep. His lips formed her name, but he did not say her name. It had been too long since he'd given up on her. He was too far gone for her healing hands. He would never admit how much he missed her. It was painful to tell her to leave, it tore something loose in his chest, and now he covered it with drinking more than ever.

"Kakashi," the woman in his bed whispered, sitting up to touch his skin. Her fingers were freezing and he shivered under the contact. Sakura's hands were warm.

"Go back to sleep Luna," he replied, touching her hand affectionately.

"Kakashi, please, stay in bed. I miss you under the covers," her words were so attracting, but he decided to evade them for the time being. It was two in the morning after all.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, I'm just thirsty." With that, he stood, and she fell into the bed disappointed.

In the kitchen, he fixed himself a glass of water. He consumed it quickly, actually parched. He raked a hand through his silver, untidy locks. How long had it been? How many years since her eligibility?

"Too long," his thought aloud, closing his eyes and clutching the edge of the sink with his well-practiced hands. He'd poured his tears down this very drain, and in doing so, he felt empty, no matter how many times he'd gotten drunk. He somehow had found Luna, and she was going through a horrible breakup herself.

"But for no reason I gave her up," he beat himself up. He never could pinpoint the reasoning in him telling Sakura to leave. 'It wasn't working out' ha! What a lot of shit…I was a cold-hearted bastard to her. I wasn't worth everything she was oh so willing to give me.

When he had finally become too weary to stand and his eyelids began to droop, he had finally given in to return to the _empty_ bed. Luna with her beautiful black hair splayed on the mattress, had fallen asleep. He smiled and kissed the top of her head, like he used to do to Sakura, and laid down beside the one Sound ninja that had been kind to him.

* * *

"Sakura, wow, how have you been?" Ino was surprised to hear her on the phone.

"Don't sound so shocked, you'll hurt my feelings," Sakura laughed falsely into the phone. It was hard, talking to Ino, even after that damned five-year mission. I was wrong to jump at the longest mission I could, Sakura thought, massaging her temples. But it was healing, god was it healing.

"Well, how many years have you disappeared from the face of Konoha?" Ino asked with a begrudging tone.

"Five," Sakura replied in a hard voice, still massaging away.

"Not even a damn letter either," Ino muttered.

"I know, I'm sorry…I just…" Sakura could feel the guilt trip Ino was putting on her grow slightly heavier.

"You weren't that busy, if that stupid mission took that long, and as you're the head medic for the mission, you had some spare time…" Ino trailed off, and called a little further away: "Shika, I'm inviting Sakura for lunch, so you and Choji can go to that poker game with Kiba, Kakashi, and Luna!" Sakura felt as though she had detached herself from the conversation. Kakashi…Luna; was Luna his new girlfriend? No…no Kakashi wouldn't have gotten a new girlfriend, would he…it took him years to get over losing Rin.

The other voice called on her thoughts though. It has been years Sakura, _five_ years. You left in agony to escape the pain, he dealt with it like a man—new girlfriend, no problems.

Sakura stared blankly at the walls of her family's kitchen. She let the voice crush her mental awareness. The pain began to settle familiarly in her chest and she caught herself on the wall with her hand that wasn't holding the phone.

"Sakura…are you there?" Ino's worried voice called to her as she almost started crying.

"Yes…I'm…here…" Ino began to invite her to the little get-together she was planning for the afternoon.

"Call it a celebration of your homecoming," Ino laughed lightly, gaily. Sakura heard herself agree with the luncheon, and begged Ino to let her get off—not to be rude, but for them both to be able to get ready for the party. Kakashi wasn't going to be there, thankfully.

* * *

"Shika, Choji, you made it!" Kakashi laughed, greeting his younger friends into his house.

"Yeah, Ino was being particularly clear. 'No sex for the next few months if you don't let me have this party,'" Shikamaru imitated his wife's voice perfectly, having had a good few years to practice it.

"You know she's bluffing," Kakashi said as he shut the door behind the two men. "That's why you suck at poker." Choji laughed, digging into the chips that were on the table that Luna had set up for the game.

"No…I don't think she was. She went three months without me in the bed. And I _know_ no one 'helped' her." Luna giggled and sat down, shuffling two decks together. Not that anyone cheated or anything, but just to be sure. Neji wasn't allowed to come to the games anymore—he kept calling Kakashi on his bluffs.

"Where's Naruto, Shika?" Kakashi surveyed the room minutely—they never really played for money. They played for hits, favors, and shinobi chores more like. They had come up with a system for the chips. The white ones stood for hits, the blue stood for favors, and obviously, the red stood for chores. Usually the red were the most placed in the pot.

"Oh, babysitting, Hinata went to the party." That pretty much closed the conversation there.

"Luna's dealer again?" Kiba complained, showing up from somewhere inside the house, ruffling his hair. His faithful companion of the canine-kind was at home due to some 'problems'. Kakashi knew it to be the little female terrier that Temari (go figure) gave Kiba for his birthday.

"Yeah, she is Kiba, so who else is at Ino's party?" Kakashi asked, as they all settled into their seats, promptly five cards were passed out. Kakashi was looking at his hand. "What's wild Luna?"

"Queen…and…" she lifted the middle of the deck and laughed, "Threes," she smiled at him. Shit, he sighed, and laid down three cards. Almost everyone did the same.

"Umm…I don't know. Sakura called her this morning, so I know that she'll be there," Shika was too absorbed in his strategizing to really pay attention to the one thing he never was supposed to bring up around Kakashi.

If they only knew how to read his eyes, then they'd know exactly how much that name damaged his heart in just one second.

* * *

"Forehead girl!" Ino fondly called Sakura by her childhood name.

"Ino-pig," Sakura replied wryly. Looking over the woman's shoulders, she saw Hinata, Ten-ten, and Temari…_Temari_? Wow, Sakura thought, coming out of the doorway for Ino to shut the door. Hinata waved, smiling. Her navy blue hair was tied back, out of her face. She glowed exuberantly. A light existed in her eyes that she hadn't seen before.

"Hinata," Sakura said, astonished, "you really look good. You've changed somehow…I just…can't really pinpoint it." Sakura smiled and Hinata thanked her. The voice in her head whispered: Five years can do that to someone. You've been gone an unreasonable length of time without contacting anyone.

"You've changed too, Sakura," Hinata said, her voice still low and girly, but she held herself so differently; her speech was not hindered like it had been so long ago.

"I have, gee, I didn't notice," Sakura gently said, starting to laugh.

"I'm so glad that you've grown your hair back out!" Ino commented, picking up a strand of the fine, pink tresses.

"Me too," Temari said, looking less sinister by the second. "I know we weren't good friends when you left, but these two brag too much about you. And I have admired your courage." Temari's words were so sweet, but unfortunately, Sakura felt even worse hearing that someone had in fact envied her courage.

Running away from a man doesn't sound like courage to me, the little voice said artlessly.

Shut up, Sakura retorted, feeling ashamed of her self-imposed pariah.

"Sakura, did the mission go awry? Is that why it took so long?" Ino looked at her, eyes filled with a vehement desire to have her answers. Sakura studied analyzing aura befouling her friend. It radiated off Ino with such force, Sakura was coerced into talking.

"No, the mission…it didn't go all screwy. It was meant to take five years," Sakura said. However, she left out the fact that it could've lasted twelve years, but forces outside her power figured out how to defeat the enemy and return home in six years less. How unfortunate, Sakura had thought when she realized what had happened. But now that she had returned home…well, not really home, but Konoha at the least, she didn't want to go back. She wanted to stay and get to know everyone again. She wanted to tell them that she would find someone, and that she would settle down. She wouldn't be the last one to do everything.

"Did you lose anyone?" Temari asked, intrigued, almost greedy for information. This wasn't a welcoming party…

"No, no one died, no one was captured…well, at one point my apprentice thought she could go out at night without protection and a Sound-nin, a female, swooped in and snatched her, bearing her away as a cat would a mouse in it's teeth." Sakura especially loved the analogy.

"You regained her though?"

"Yes, we did, the Sound-nin fled, and we never saw her since. That was the first year into though. There were other idiots." And Sakura went on to explain in great detail about how Lincoln Kimishima had almost ruined the mission by sneaking into a camp of ninjas, stealing the schematics of a project that they were attempting to cut down and destroy, and getting caught.

"He was lucky," Sakura said as she drew to a close, "that Genma had been with him."

"Damn rookie," Temari said, and Sakura smiled, nodding.

"That's exactly what Genma said. Anyway, Genma had a team of ANBU with him, and we were glad that no one was killed. Everything in that clearing had been burned down, schematics and all. The shinobi had gotten away with few losses on their part, and it was back to the drawing board for us. To say the least, I was busy." They laughed appreciatively.

"But why didn't you return any of Naruto's letters? He wrote several to you, but you never replied to them." That was the question Sakura had been waiting for. Hinata was going to ask it eventually.

"I…I really don't know Hinata," Sakura said apathetically. "I guess I got so caught up in living away. It was therapeutic, getting to know several Nins that I had seen but never knew personally. Genma's like a brother to me, and I've grown fond of the others too."

"How 'fond' did you become with some of the men?" Ino archly questioned.

"Not very, I wasn't promiscuous if that's what you're implying," again, Sakura answered with as much gusto as a dead fish.

It was then that the door opened. Shikamaru, Kiba, Naruto with twins in his arms—wait. Sakura focused on Naruto and saw that they were hetero, a boy and a girl. The boy had the lightest navy hair on his head (granted there wasn't much hair), and the girl's hair was blond. They looked absolutely adorable with features from both their mom and dad in them. It took less than a second for Sakura to comprehend that Naruto and Hinata had married in her absence.

The other's then filed in afterward: Choji, a girl with raven hair that swirled around her like fire, who's name Sakura did not know and…

_Kakashi_.

The thought reverberated uninterrupted by that common voice that had only negative and rash comments. His name echoed irrevocably in the emptiness that filled her head. It was as though she was standing on the edge of a gorge and her voice quavered his name. Kakashi her voice said, and Kakashi the gorge answered. Repeatedly, unendingly, almost to the point of maddening; she was not ready for him to see her now, or vice versa.

She could see everyone clearly, but it was awful. Sound had escaped her, for she was too nonplussed by him showing his face. His name was all she could hear. She felt sick, woozy even. All of a sudden, she felt as though more of her weight was tipping to her left. Her equilibrium shook violently unable to sustain her from falling any longer.

Sakura could have reached her arm out to catch hold of something to keep her upright. She, however, stayed passive. Most unlike Sakura to turn the other cheek, though she was nothing like Ino. It felt like she was moving too slow for it to be reality.

The fall seemed to take longer than it should. As though her body was trying to fight the law of gravity in vain hopes; she just wouldn't hit the floor. If the resounding of his name didn't drive her insane, her being unable to make contact with the ground most certainly would.

Abruptly, everything crashed down on her. The voices were turned on, full volume. Exclamations about Sakura's return and how unexpected it was. Everything jumbled together, nothing made sense. Consequently, the weight of the atmosphere triggered gravity like a magnet and her head hit the floor with a powerful, sickening crack.

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: No owning done here. It _is_ a SakuraItachi fic, but I need to develop more with each person before moving onto how Itachi comes into the mix. Please be patient with me, lime warning for chapter. Starts in Kakashi POV.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 2: Cumulative Risks**

He watched her as he wrung out the cloth for the umpteenth time. He gently patted at the sweat rising over her brow. A coma for sixteen days, a blistering fever at one hundred and three point five Fahrenheit, and to top it off, she had somehow sustained an internal wound that was months old and improperly healed. It was as if she didn't know about it. The ultimate cause of her condition went almost completely to the scarring tissue causing her high fever.

Medics couldn't undergo surgery with her because the scarring tissue was too near a vital artery and organ. If they had done surgery, Sakura had a little chance of survival, as well as the fact that she could possibly stay in a coma forever if the surgery was to happen. Tsunade would never risk the life of her favorite kunoichi and surrogate daughter.

His hands had turned raw red, and he was running on pure chakra alone to keep his eyes open. He hadn't slept but twice—getting less than an hour's sleep of the two times—since she had gone under. He was determined to be awake when she came back to consciousness, if she came back that is. He had lost Rin to the hospital as well, hence his thorough dislike for them. Anyone would hate them if they stole your first love away.

A nurse came in at that moment.

"How long do you think she'll stay like this?" He asked. The nurse knew of their relationship and how long Sakura had been gone.

"Please, do her a favor and just leave." The woman was kind, but she had a biting edge to her words. Her name evaded him.

"Kakashi, sir, I know that I'm just a nurse, but do you have any idea _why_ she left? It would be better for the two of you if you left before she woke. She would much rather see friends than foes, I'm afraid." Kinaki, he suddenly remembered was her name.

"I'm staying; I think it would be good for us to see one another." His tone was hard, but Kinaki wasn't backing down.

"I will have security remove you. You haven't slept. I've seen you here. Day in and day out, eyes shut not once. As a nurse, I will admit you to this hospital for lacking of taking care of yourself. If my threats do not scare you, then I will involve Madame Tsunade and she will put an end to this." For the first time, he felt heated embarrassment fill his cheeks with her fiery words.

"Why did she leave on that mission to begin with?" Once he had regained his composure.

"Why…she left…let's see if I can do an exact impression so that you can get a full-view on how much it killed her." Kinaki adjusted her throat, and spoke in Sakura's voice quite well.

"'That was cruel…so cruel…I wanted to give him everything…he just shoves it back in my face…I-I'll be strong' she broke down in sobs at that point," Kinaki said, but once more put on Sakura's voice.

"'I'm leaving tonight…the mission could take twelve years…that's enough time…plenty enough time…maybe I'll move on by then,'" Kinaki stopped for a moment and looked at him. "You see, she left because of you. She went looking for the longest mission on the board and seized it, attempting to escape from the thought of you." His mind reeled, had she really left because of him? Had he really been that mean?

He would never admit it to Kinaki as she grinned evilly as she escorted him out of the room, but yes, he had been wrong. He just had no idea the depth of Sakura's love for him.

As he walked down the corridor to exit the hospital, he could hear Sakura's pleadings for him to reconsider.

* * *

Bleary eyes opened, strained and weary. They closed rapidly to shut out the offensive luminescence from above. A hand twitched, straightened at her side. A toe wiggled to siphon off the nitrogen building there. She popped her knuckles too. Now the eyes attempted once more to show the world she was awake.

Green orbs surveyed her surroundings, noting that no one was in the room. Her pulse was still at rest, and the machines didn't otherwise let anyone know of her return to consciousness. The steady beep of her pulse was consistent and she'd have liked to hush what was making the noise. Alas, she could not, for the hospital would not be pleased with her.

That's where she was, the hospital, obvious to surmise such a statement. The whitewashed walls, the never-ending pattern of tile on the floor, the plain-Jane nothingness that encroached dreadfully…yeah; this was definitely not her room.

She fell back onto the pillows, watching the ceiling, as if wishing there was something up there to come and retrieve her from the invasive alabaster room. With the thought lingering, she allowed herself to drift into the land of sleep, where dreams were one's guide.

* * *

"Kakashi," Luna moaned, twisting her hands in his silver hair. He was tender-headed and had begged her before not to do that—especially during sex. It was distracting. It was nice when she let go; now holding onto his shoulders as he moved in and out of her with a steady rhythm.

She was tight around him, friction increasing with a slight amount of pressure added from the heat. Neither of them said anything now, both so close to the edge of blissful ecstasy. Their breathing shallow and in time with the ebbs and flows of the love-making, Kakashi felt this time was their best together. So in-synch with one another it was unreal to him. It almost felt as though they completed each other in carnal pleasure.

Speaking of which—

His lips were seized with such force as she melted into him and he melted into her, amazingly coming at the same time. He held her face in his hands and kissed her deeply, his tongue swaying experimentally into her mouth, to taste. He brushed away her bangs from her beautiful ocher eyes. Those eyes and the face they were set into smiled hazily. He withdrew from her, throwing the comforter around them.

She snuggled into his sculpted chest and he kissed the top of her head, wrapping an arm around her pale shoulders.

"You are the best thing in my life," she whispered to him, kissing the musculature of his chest. Kakashi said nothing to this, silence winning his battle for the night. He still hadn't recovered fully from staying up with Sakura at the hospital. She probably will never wake up, he thought as he lie there holding Luna. Unable to fight sleep anymore though, his eyelids closed softly over his eyes, and he dreamed of Sakura.

* * *

It was approximately a month since she was in a coma, and Sakura was feeling right as rain. As rain is sad and associated with depressive, sleepy, sloth-like behavior, 'right as rain' was a perfect cliché for her. Yet it still got her nowhere.

"Sakura," Tsunade said in a firm, but kind voice. She was Sakura's mother figure, and Tsunade was a wonderful candidate for such a thing—when she wasn't trying to gamble, drink, or do both at the same time, like she was doing now.

"Umm, got any aces?" Tsunade looked at her cards, looked at Sakura, and handed her two. Sakura laid down the 'book' and declared she was the winner for the fifth time in a row. Tsunade had a pink flush filling her cheeks due to the sake she had been—and still is—drinking.

"That's it, I'm done with 'Go Fish,'" she air-quoted the game's name and set the deck on the table. Sakura just waited to hear her orders. She longed to go on another mission. She was never close to a suicide mission, but she liked getting close to them. Besides, what else could the 'S' in 'S ranked Mission' stand for? Nothing, because suicide was the best answer for it; at least one person would be killed on the mission, and the mission didn't guarantee survivors.

"Madame Tsunade," Shizune, a wonderful medic and friend of Sakura's—Tsunade's first apprentice as well—called from the doorway. Tsunade looked up under her blond locks and sized the woman.

"We have a situation," she winked at Tsunade, though Sakura did not see Shizune do this. Tsunade made a face and looked sternly at Sakura. Unknown to Sakura, this was a setup.

"Sakura, I need you to do me a personal favor and get me some of my special sake from the bartender." Sakura scoffed.

"You want me to get your booze to egg on this inebriation?" Tsunade looked at her protégée as if Sakura was mad.

"Yes, I _expect_ you to allow the drunken stupors I put myself in! After all, I am Hokage," she said it as though that settled the matter. "Besides, if you don't do this, then I'm just going to have to find someone else to…"

"No, fine, I'll do it, but if anyone asks me, I'll say I was forced. You were supposed to be in rehab for this shit." Sakura grumbled, bickering like an old hag would if a walk was too far and no youngling helped her out.

"I got out, the whole 'recovering alcoholic' didn't suit me well; I guess you'd say." Tsunade said with a smile. Sakura just pushed past Shizune—who again made a gesture that Sakura was too busy to notice.

"Stupid, idiotic," streams of obscenities fell from Sakura's mouth as she went to Tsunade's specialized bar. "Not in my job description…should still be in rehab…she'll never change…" Sakura continued to mutter insults at her teacher.

She would have to come up with something to get Tsunade back for this. She could, in fact, just take a very long time returning with the drinks. Maybe I can take one myself and say that there was only one bottle, because I know she always gets two. Three if she's feeling puckish.

Nodding, Sakura went into the bar and looked around for the bartender. No one, as though this place had been abandoned a long, _long_ time ago. A shiver snaked its away across her flesh and rippled through every exposed inch of pallor skin. She had the unnerving feeling that she was being watched too.

She walked further into the bar, letting an echo of her 'hello' drown in seconds. It was so _strange_. It seemed as though the bar was haunted. It gave her the creeps.

"Sakura," a voice stated gently in the awful silence. She yelped leaping back, eyes wide with horror and a hand over her heart. Her breathing quickly turned jagged and she looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Oh…" she breathed, "Genma, thank goodness. It's only you," she smiled weakly, and she felt a head rush thanks to the scare she had received.

"What do you mean 'it's only you'? You'll hurt my feelings Sakura," he said, hugging her like a friend would. It was great to see him and she hugged him back.

"It's just that…this place is so…deserted and…run-down. It gives me the willies," she said and she shivered again to prove her point.

"Yeah, you have goose bumps," Genma said, looking at her up and down. Sakura pulled some of her pink hair in front of her shoulder and began to play with it. Genma hated it when she did that too. Sakura only did it to piss him off anyway.

"Stop that," he hissed, taking her wrist and removing the pink tresses from beneath her fingers. "You're hair is too pretty, don't go making it fall out." He winked at her and Sakura rolled her eyes at the ceiling.

"Superstitious much—my hair isn't going to fall out because I run my hands through it. If that was the case, your hair would be gone by now," Sakura smiled at him and he laughed.

"Ok, ok, fair is fair. Did Tsunade not tell you?" Sakura looked at him with a blank expression. "Yeah, Tsunade opened another bar on the other side of town. I'll be glad to show it to you. You'll like it, I know you will." Sakura's eyes glittered 'sure'.

* * *

I should probably talk to her. I really need to explain a few things to her. Explain and mostly apologize to her, she was just a girl when we were together. I feel like a selfish fool.

Kakashi raked his hands through his hair as he sat on the couch, watching the wall. Luna walked through the door, calling out to him from the hallway. He heard her enter the kitchen, and he decided her would follow. She was a great cook. He sat down on one of the barstools and watched her.

Luna's hair was entirely too long, all the way to her knees. It was beautiful though, and Kakashi didn't know her secret to managing it. Her willow-frame curved naturally from breast to hip. Her chest did seem large, but only because her stomach was flat. She was as perfect as any human could get with a nice pale skin tone, amber eyes, and full lips.

She finished putting away the groceries and moved behind him.

"Sweetheart," Luna said, consoling him by rubbing his neck. "What's the matter?" Kakashi looked at her with his obsidian eye. Luna was such a pleasurable woman in and out of bed; Kakashi just shook his head.

"I may have to meet up with someone tomorrow…I need to speak with them." Luna smiled, almost as if she knew who he was going to be seeing. And she was ok with that.

"Take the whole day if you have to. I know you'll still be mine when the day's done." Luna leaned in completely for a full-fledged kiss.

* * *

**_TBS..._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Please, I wish I owned this. Keyphrase: WISH I OWNED. Ok. Thank you for the reviews. I'm hoping this story can continue at this pace, if not, I apologize in advance. Starts in Sakura POV. ****NOTE! Flashback occurs in UNDERLINED font so as to not stop the flow of the story.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 3: Mission's Incomplete**

She sat down in the little coffee shop, ordering a decaf cappuccino with chocolate and caramel and a little cinnamon bun. Her order was brought out to her with the bill for her to pay then so she could enjoy her meal and then leave (ninjas had to pay this way most often because of unexpected missions arising etcetera). As she stirred her coffee, she stared out the window, watching the people of Konoha bustle about in their morning routines.

She had slipped out of her house for the fact of wanting uninterrupted thinking. At the house, she ran the risk of Ino or Hinata calling, where as out here, they'd have to have been stalking her to know that she was in the coffee shop so close to the leaf village's border (as only people who lived around the area knew of the coffee shop—Sakura had found it once coming home from an earlier mission by herself).

She had been given a lot to think about over the course of her return, especially where Kakashi was concerned. His showing up in the picture was not helpful. Then Kakashi had shown up on her doorstep two weeks ago, he had to be possessed to think she'd care to listen to anything he had to say after what he'd done. Life is too 'short' to linger over past relationships and old quarrels. She did not want to be scarred further than she had already been, and allowing him to control her was just asking for trouble in the heart-department later.

She let herself fall into the past for the moment.

'Sakura please,' he had said, his black eye full of sincerity. 'I won't force you, but I need to speak with you.'

'Why,' she found herself replying, 'to relieve your guilty conscious? Kakashi, I've been through enough. You've said enough. You've made your point clear, me in your life is something that's hindering you—even when I _was_ your student.'

'That's not fair, Sakura,' he said, his face straight—he had done her the courtesy of having his mask down (both of them). 'I know I ignored you somewhat, but I didn't think you hindered the team.'

'The team…the team—Team Seven used to have meaning to us, but now, I don't know what it was meant to stand for anymore. Besides, Kakashi, let's not fool ourselves,' she stated coldly, 'no, wait—let me not fool myself again to think that I could've made a difference in your life.' Her amended sentence gave her face a grave look.

'Sakura,' he said, looking into her eyes. He attempted to hold her.

'Stop damn it! You were the one thing that I truly _lived_ for, and then you strip your love away from me as though it was a highly coveted piece of clothing, as though it meant _nothing_ to you. Did it ever mean _anything_ to you?' Sakura asked, head in her hands, avoiding his eyes.

'Why did you up and leave the very next day?' The typical male answer: a question.

'Kakashi,' she yelled in frustration, 'you were my _life_. Do you understand that? Without you, I was hopelessly wandering. A human cannot live without a _purpose_. You were _mine_. I can easily see I wasn't yours. I had no impact on your life.' Kakashi didn't say anything then. Sakura smiled sardonically.

'And the man has no response to prove me wrong. Every _fucking word_ you told me was a lie, wasn't it? No, don't answer that, because I know you can't do it _truthfully_.' Her words were icy and she was hoping she was making him hurt, or have an idea of how hurt she was.

'Sakura you know that's not true,' it was as if he was trying to plead with her to believe him. 'I loved you, I told you that.' Derisive laughter came from the pink-haired woman though.

'Ha, you know something, Kakashi? You should never say 'I love you' first. Do you know why? Oh, of course not, because if you did, you would've known that actions speak louder than words.' Sakura took the door that was in her hands and slammed it against its frame.

'Sakura, Sakura," he called, pounding on the door. Sakura just slid to the floor, back against the door, shaking from the quiet sobs racking her figure. 'Fine, be a child about it, but at least I can muster up the ability to be happy for you and whoever that's to be yours…good-bye," she heard his last testament and stopped crying, opening the door, only to find there was no one outside. It didn't matter though, so she shut the door and carried herself to the bedroom.

"Sakura Haruno, I have a message for you." She jumped from her reverie as she remembered what had transpired that day. She looked at the little chuunin, who handed her the message. Sakura took it from him with grace and thanked him with a smile. The boy blushed and ran back to wherever he had been before he was summoned to send her the message.

She slit open the scroll, briefly examining that it was from Tsunade—'urgent' was in bold red letters.

_Dear Fellow Shinobi,_

_There has been a power struggle against the Sound village and the missing-nins. Luna Yasashii_—

Luna…Kakashi's girlfriend Luna…must be…

—_has been arrested and is now awaiting trial. She is charged with treason and being a spy. There is news that several shinobi will attack. We must be ready to protect our beautiful village from outsiders. Anyone of jounin status will be recruited to help fight. All medical staff will be on hand to help heal and fight as well. The special task force, ANBU, will also be assisting. This mission is crucial, all hands are necessary. Report to my office PDQ—ASAP for the younger—to be briefed and placed in your teams._

_Hokage—_

_Godaime Tsunade_

Sakura rolled up the letter, her appetite sated. She seemed to disappear from the coffee shop as she flew out the door. When she sprang from the place, nothing had stirred—amazingly.

The houses, trees, people, and roads were a blur to her as she sprinted on chakra-light feet. Her thoughts however, were not on the mission that was coming, but of what had occurred to cause the mission in the first place. Without a pebble tossed into it, a river cannot make ripples. Who was the one to toss the pebble then? She had yet to come up with an answer as she halted outside Tsunade's office door.

* * *

Tsunade looked at him as he paced erratically in front of her. It just doesn't make sense, he thought to himself. I _know_ she was one of the few Sound ninjas to become missing-nin to Konoha. She was a goddamn refugee, not a spy. This just doesn't make sense. 

"Kakashi, I know this is overwhelming for you, but please, sit down. I'm sure Sakura has received the notice—and unlike you—she'll arrive early enough for the two of you to have discussions and whatnot." Tsunade did not smile as she said her words, half believing them.

"She won't," Kakashi said, stopping to stare full-on at Tsunade, speaking informally, like he always did. He remembered all too clearly at how she slammed the door in his face after plunging a knife into his soul and repeatedly twisting and turning it.

"What do you mean she won't? She knows the meaning of punctuality extremely better than you." Tsunade said, sitting up in her chair. Soon the place would be overrun with shinobi and Tsunade's one-on-one would become a one-on-five hundred and seventy-two.

"I mean, I've tried discussing things with her, but…" Again he flinched from the sound of the door slamming and the brief silence that followed before he beat at the door with a fist, calling her name. Tsunade rubbed her temples, feeling over-worked with this lazy-demeanor ex-captain ANBU jounin.

At that moment, the door to the office opened, and a female with pink hair and green eyes stared on at the scene. She had a glare that would've frightened a younger man on her face. The look was so dirty; Kakashi would've thought she was naturally full of hate. He knew in his heart-of-hearts that the look was only devised for him and him alone.

Without looking once at Tsunade, she said hateful words that exposed the fact that their ending hadn't been pleasant.

"We aren't doing this again, Tsunade. Tell me the real reason why I'm here, last time I went somewhere for you, Genma met up with me 'unexpectedly,'" she used air-quotes to mock the word and to show that she knew that it had been a setup.

"You really are here for a mission, Sakura, now put away the daggers before someone gets hurt." Sakura's green penetrating stare was bringing the statement 'If looks could kill' into Kakashi's head. "Sakura, the only one who gets hurt is the one with the weapons, now stop this madness and be tolerant. You are both of Konoha and jounin as well." Sakura stiffened, but finally let her eyes roll off of him. Unknown to him, he had been holding his breath. He let it out slowly so as to not ignite the fury of the woman beside him.

"I need you two to work together. Itachi Uchiha is said to be amongst the group about to invade Konoha, and I'll be damned if I let someone who's never battled him waste their life at Uchiha's hands. Do you understand?" They nodded, Sakura begrudgingly, but all the same.

"Good, you two will be assigned in the larger of the groups, now go outside and wait while I prepare everything." Kakashi stood up, ready to avoid Sakura at all costs. She might murder me if she gets a chance to, he thought.

"Kakashi," his name bit out from her immediately. "Sound-nins don't make good wives," she hissed evilly, continuing to walk away. He seethed, but couldn't think of anything to say to that. What could he say? That she couldn't know that? Right, somehow he didn't think that comeback would get the wanted reaction. He just kept silent.

* * *

How infuriating, she thought, as they were all crouched in positions everywhere. I have to be with Kakashi in this damn group, but he insists on us being split up. Those words triggered her tear ducts, but she banished the thoughts. Stop, you are a ninja! You are about to be in battle; no crying, not even one tear! She yelled at herself. Then, she heard it. 

Swift footfalls—barely making contact with the ground before lifting into the air for less than a millisecond to hit the earth again—filled her ears. She heard them closing in around her and the team she'd been placed with, the center team. The outside team, she heard minutely moving into place to take on the ninjas approaching the center group.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she felt the adrenaline pulse through her veins thicker than blood. Stillness surrounded them. Nothing moved, no birds whistled, not even a leaf rustled as it seemed the whole area was holding its breath, not wishing to give away its position. A twig snapped loudly however, and the fight began.

All around her, she saw ANBU and jounin facing off with Sound ninjas and missing-nins. It was disconcerting to see how many ninjas were against them.

Senbon and kunai were being thrown, caught, and thrown at alarming paces. Sometimes, metal would clash on metal, and a few ANBU had katana swords out, attacking that way. At the moment it was only a show of brute strength.

Someone called out among the fighting, but Sakura couldn't distinguish it as she was forced into the mass from her treetop position.

The man attacking her was large. He stabbed at the air, hoping to hit flesh—or to cleave an appendage, whichever happened. Sakura dodged mainly, getting shallow cuts every now and then. Nothing too serious though. She took a few aimed shots at him as well, missing each time though. He was faster than his burly structure made him out to be.

She dodged the kunai again, but this time was unable to avoid the blow to her stomach. She was uncertain whether or not it was his fist or knee. She could only focus on the pain. Her knees hit the leaf-strewn ground as her and her attacker had made it to the forest floor. She and one more pair of fighters remained in the area, as the others ran off to hide and ambush their prey.

She carefully aimed senbon at the pressure points in his arms and stomach to prevent him from using anymore chakra. It was a success and the man keeled over, exhausted on his worn face. When she looked up however, Sakura saw just who the fighting pair was.

Kakashi was doubled over from overexertion of his chakra levels. Itachi stood there watching Kakashi choke down blood from the wound in his side. Tears spilled from her eyes seeing Kakashi hurt. She ran—despite that her own chakra levels were low—to him.

"No, Kakashi," she begged while still running towards the injured jounin. Itachi's eyes snapped in her direction and he tackled her head-on to the ground. A warm, wet liquid began to spread from her head and into her hair from the fall. She saw his eyes become large with what they saw, and she felt chakra pouring into the head wound to help stop the bleeding and to help heal the gash. Her blood had concealed with her hair by now.

"Thank you," she whispered softly, her green eyes clouded with the fog of sleep that was trying to overcome her. Warm arms enclosed her and held her tight. He was muttering something, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. Then, the ground seemed to disappear in the sound of shuffling leaves as Itachi bore her away from Konoha. She fell asleep, somehow unfrightened.

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Starts in Itachi POV. NOTE! Flashback occurs in UNDERLINED font so as to not interrupt the story.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 4: Hypocrisy Template**

It had taken him all night to carry her to his outside home.

The next day, he told the town about a jounin medic that may be joining their midst. Thankfully, they didn't inquire much about her—he wanted to keep her a somewhat secret. He was grateful that they were calm about having someone new and capable. The town had needed a medic for sometime now, a competent medic that is.

He was glad that the Sound village and other missing-nins had risen to the occasion nicely to 'attack' Konoha. That's why they were going so easy on the people. He honestly thought that it would take more ninjas than that to take down the jounin and ANBU of Konoha, when he needn't have bothered—Kakashi was just barely able to put up a fight against him. Yet the theatrics were needed—the more they thought she was dead, the longer she could stay there.

Why this pink-haired jounin though? Itachi had taken time to consider this while she lay on his bed, out cold.

He remembered his brother, Sasuke, and how much he had done wanting the boy to push himself. Sasuke was always in his shadow, never the reverse. And over the years of seeing his brother alongside of Orochimaru, guilt became Itachi. For six years he watched his brother come closer and closer to the thing Itachi was. Somehow, through those six years, a saving light shone on him.

'Itachi,' Sasuke had breathed, lying in the mud, rain splattering his face. 'I—I want to tell you a story…before…this is…over,' his voice was coming and going as he strained to breathe as they had been fighting. Itachi stopped his assault, and looked at his brother, curious about the story. Sasuke took Itachi's silence a motion for him to continue.

'I was assigned to a team of genin with a jounin master, one genin was Naruto—kyuubi—my sensei was Kakashi. However amongst us was the girl, a pink-haired girl named Sakura,' he whispered, his vocals challenged in speaking. He coughed during his pause.

'She was annoying, fawning over me right and left, but there was something about her I admired. She could find inner strength when no one else could. She could control her chakra better than any genin. Above all though, she completed the friendship that had sprung up. Naruto was determined to best me; I was fixated on gaining power—hell bent to do it myself—and Sakura, always trying to find ways to impress me.' His eyes were closed, but he continued to speak.

'But she was willing to throw all of that away, just to be with me. She was willing to let herself become a missing-nin so long as I was by her side. I told her she was still annoying even after all that had happened. I knocked her out and laid her on a bench.

'I heard rumors about both of them. Naruto was becoming stronger, training with Jiraiya and Sakura was apprentice to the Godaime, Tsunade—becoming a medic. When I heard that, I smiled for two reasons: all three of us were training with the legendary ninjas and because I knew Sakura would outshine any medic for her chakra capabilities.' Itachi nodded to this, surprised that he had forgotten the reason they were fighting. It didn't matter though. He had lost his appetite for wishing to kill his brother here and now.

'Itachi,' Sasuke said, shivering as the wind and the rain picked up. 'Please promise me one thing, one favor from brother to brother.' Itachi looked at him suspiciously, not really sure how to take that, slightly upturning his nose.

'Pretend for a moment that we don't hate each other and we don't have a past. Do me this one favor…it's…all I ask of you.' Sasuke's eyes had opened and were looking up at him with such sadness, Itachi couldn't believe.

'I won't spare your life, but what do you ask?' He would give him a dying wish. One…and that's all.

'Please watch over Sakura.' And Sasuke's eyes closed gently. His breathing halted; his chest no longer moved up and down. His skin was pale due to a lack of blood. He was dead.

Itachi sat in a chair, watching Sakura sleep on his bed. Would she wake up? He wondered to himself, staring intently at her. It's been two days…

He had followed his brother's wish and kept an eye on her. Not a completely devoted eye, but all the same—being wanted in the town the woman lived in kind of posed a threat if he wasn't smooth.

His sharigan-lit eyes scanned over her body. He took in the detail of her long, silky hair that had whipped him in the face as he ran with her in his arms. He saw the contours of her frame, slightly curvaceous. The way her pale hand clutched the blanket over her chest as she lay on her side. Her expression as she licked her lips, before turning to the other side, her back now to him.

* * *

He was not pleased with Tsunade the moment he came to. He had a notorious disliking for hospitals. Few knew the reason, and the few who knew, remained the few if they knew what was good for them. Kakashi knew where they slept at night.

"Tsunade," he called informally addressing the person who was obviously in charge of this 'holding one against one's will' scheme. It didn't take long for the elder blond to appear.

"You called," she asked thoroughly amused. He could not believe her nerve.

"Yes, I did—why am I not in my bed, healing the proper way?" He questioned her. She smiled sadistically at him when she replied.

"The proper way would've been you on the death alter, waiting for the burning ceremony." Kakashi was stunned by the remark. He knew he was hurt, but that bad?

"What—Itachi didn't get me that bad," he said it to confirm it.

"Define 'bad' Kakashi. You lost a majority of your blood in that part of the forest. You're lucky someone found you. Hypothermia was kicking into your system and the lack of blood caused you to pass out. You would've died without medical treatment." His head spun with the information. And then something else worried him.

"Sakura," he said sitting up in his bed, disrupting the cables connect to him.

"Excuse me," Tsunade asked, looking befuddled by his outburst without a complete thought.

"Sakura—Sakura was in the forest…I heard her call out to me…" he trailed off and he felt moisture building in his eyes.

"Kakashi…" Tsunade said, sitting at the edge of his bed, putting a motherly hand on his leg. An attempt to console him for the news she was to lay upon him.

"No, she's not," Kakashi whispered, already trying to find the loophole in the cognitive scene. His fists clenched the sheets, knuckles turning white.

"We searched the area, no own else was in the forest. They either burnt her with chakra or captured her."

"She was captured, she's alive," Kakashi muttered to himself, knowing he was right. Sakura was stronger than Rin after all.

"No, Kakashi, she's not alive. There was a ton of her blood spilled on the floor of the forest. If she was captured, they would have already gotten all the information needed from her. She was probably tortured to the brink of death." Tsunade's words were vivid in his mind, and he felt as though something within him was gone. A light that finally went out, a candle snuffed, with only wisps of smoke to show vestiges of the fact that she was once there.

"You don't know," he said as though mad, "how would you know? She could still be alive." He didn't want to think she was being tortured. He wanted to believe that they were treating her kinder than that of the tortured.

"Kakashi, I know, and you've _seen_ enough **and** _know_ enough to know that she couldn't possibly still be alive. Don't be a fool and live a lie. It will only hurt you later." Her words were full of wisdom, and it was true. He had seen enough to know that torturing was a dish dealt fast, and survivors from torture acts were none.

"I _know_ how difficult it is to lose someone. You've gone through it once before. This is hard on me too." Tsunade's stern voice had grown softer. Her blue eyes looked into his black.

"Sakura meant a lot to me too. She was my protégée; she was going to be my successor in the medical field."

"I never told her that I had waited for her to come back…that I still harbored feelings for her…" his voice was full of regret, his fists finally let go of the bedspread, and his mismatched eyes went to the floor. Tsunade sighed, both feeling remorse for the loss of Sakura.

"We'll wait until you're discharged before holding the funeral ceremony. In the mean time, you and Luna can get back to your lives together." Tsunade's eyes were filled with tears, and she smiled gently at Kakashi. Kakashi sat up straighter in his hospital bed.

"She wasn't found guilty?" He asked, anxious. He was rightfully allowed to be worried about her safety. He had grown to trust her, and to have loving feelings towards her.

"No, there was evidence to prove her innocence. Concrete evidence, in a way I find it relieving to hear that news. She has been good for you. Maybe you'll be able to allow yourself some sort of happiness." Kakashi's eyes shifted to the doorway as he became aware of another's presence. Luna, with her lovely, gentle, flowing figure held a single flower in her hands.

"Am I…interrupting?" Luna's voice was like water as she spoke to Tsunade.

"No, I was just leaving. Remember what I said Kakashi," and Tsunade left them. Luna raced into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck.

"Kakashi, I was so afraid—afraid for you, afraid for me," she whispered holding onto him. He could almost hear the tears that were coming. He encircled her waist and held her closer to him. His eyes closed.

"Luna," he whispered, kissing her cheek.

* * *

She felt heavy as she adjusted her eyes to the blackness around her. The room she was in was unfamiliar. Fear swept over her when she sensed another person in the room. She sat up; the blanket tumbling off her shoulders. Her eyes flicked to the spot her chakra was reaching out to. A faint outline of someone sitting in a chair across from the bed she was on sketched itself in her sight.

Wordlessly, Sakura watched him, and she knew he was also awake. She could almost see the glint of some refracted light in his eyes. She could only breathe, vulnerable to the proceedings.

"Are you conscious?" He questioned, not moving one inch from his position. Sakura could feel him remotely; at ease and calm, no intention on fighting.

"Yes," she answered hastily, hoping not to trigger any rage. He was a killer, and for some unknown reason, he had let her live. She was wary of why he was being kind.

"Fear is radiating off of you, Sakura," he said it so coolly. He knew her name. She didn't reply. "I'm curious—why do you think I haven't decided to kill you?" Again, she was quick to please the murderer.

"Sadism…you haven't come up with something harsh enough for me…you want to see me in pain." She watched as she saw a grin flash as he cocked his head to the side. He did have something planned.

"Why would I hurt you though—we have no quarrel with one another?" His voice was still calm, but it dripped with something satanic.

"I don't know," she responded with confusion. Had he decided he needed legitimate reasons for his victims—or had he gone insane?

"So what are you scared?"

"I don't want to die," she said, hugging herself feeling chills. His form shifted from his chair, and she saw him standing in front of her with unreal speed.

"Neither do I…but eventually we all do." A hand touched briefly the back of her head and Sakura flinched. A knot had formed there, from her cracking her head open on the ground, and him healing it for her.

"Why did you save me?" She asked him, her eyes searching his.

"My brother's dying wish." She gasped and put her hands over her mouth, eyes instantly reacting to those words. Sasuke, she thought crying.

"He wanted me to watch over you, Sakura. He really did care about you." She cried harder at this. He did care, and now he can't love me. Tears overpowered her. She shook from the sobs.

"How—how long have you been watching me?" She asked, tears still falling out of her eyes.

"Six years," he replied stonily. Her breathing hitched and she bit at her lip to not let the remorse flow over her more severely.

* * *

"I—I _swore_ I would find him…to bring him back, seven years ago…I saw him," she cried. She felt a pair of hands take her into a body, his body. He wanted to comfort her. He had missed his ability to do that. Throughout all of the years he knew nothing but of gaining power and now the one thing he could do to repent for her—this beautiful woman consumed with sorrow—for murdering her first love was to console her.

"Shhh," he quieted her, sitting with her in his arms, on his bed. He held her to him, gently pressing her into him as she soaked his shirt with saline tears.

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Starts in Sakura POV. Lemon warning**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 5: Wishful Thinking**

When she awoke the next morning to the sounds of birds twittering away, she almost wanted to kill them. Perhaps this is the reason why Itachi is so murderous, she thought sarcastically.

That's not fair, Sakura, the little voice scolded. He saved you, possibly numerous times.

The voice had a point. There had been times in the past six years that she wondered how she had gotten out of predicaments. The one night Kakashi couldn't escort her home because he was incapacitated (here meaning she had forced him into the hospital earlier that day due to a rather ugly infection that would take several doses of antibiotics—that she _didn't_ have stashed at home or in his place—to cure), she was attacked.

If she hadn't spent most of her chakra on patients that cued in that whole day, she could've defended herself, but that was the reason Kakashi escorted her home. After working at the medical building, she was incapable of focusing chakra into attacks. That night she had spaced on having someone else escort her—in turn breaking Tsunade's one reinforced rule. Somehow, she had felt her pursuer give up, but she didn't have the nerve to slow down as she ran back to her house on half of what little chakra she had.

If Itachi had been watching her, it made perfect sense that he was the one who protected her.

She then noticed belatedly that she was alone in the room. Where was Itachi? Stumbling out of bed, Sakura immediately tripped over her feet, almost slamming her face on the hardwood floor had it not been for a pair of arms catching her.

"You really shouldn't be up moving," he said monosyllabic. His sharigan eyes seemed to examine her as she looked into them. Heat rose in her cheeks and she hastened to steady herself on her own two feet.

"I was just coming to see if you were awake," he spoke again as she avoided his gaze, looking at anything but him. She attempted to speak.

"Where'd…you…sleep?" She mumbled still feeling abashed at his intense look. She ran her fingers through her hair to remove the tresses from behind her ears. Her hair covered her face, her eyes focused on the floor, at his feet. A cool finger hooked under her chin, lifting it so her face was tilted to look him in the eyes. More heat entered the already red face.

"The floor, more against the wall, but still," he replied smoothly.

"Oh," the corners of his mouth twitched upward at her response. He's so difficult to read, she thought, watching him.

"Will you breakfast with me, or would you rather sleep in?" He was being so kind, so…cryptic. The way Itachi was acting was new to her, especially since the one she knew long ago would have killed her by now. He would have never held someone to his chest, soothing them with hushing words that would eventually lull one to sleep.

"Breakfast…?" She said it as though she was the one asking him. There was no mistaking his smile. She marveled at the sight, dazed at how lively his face looked with such a small—or in his case, large—difference.

"Come," he beckoned her, no doubt laughing at her reaction. She could hardly imagine him laughing.

He led her down the hallway, and at the fork, took her to the right. There was the kitchen, with a meal established for two on a table just big enough for four people to sit at. Two breakfasts, almost as if he expected her to eat with him. Had he poisoned the food?

He pulled out a chair for her to sit in, and she cautiously took it. He sat across from her at the tiny table. He lifted his fork, but didn't spear anything on the end of it. He watched her with subtle amusement.

"Would you like me to taste your food?" He inquired, as though he had read her mind.

"N-no," she said, and picked up her fork as well. He waited. Sakura, convinced that he wouldn't stop staring at her to eat, managed to get a forkful of scrambled eggs and place them carefully in her mouth.

Nothing, not even a woozy feeling that would've indicated food poisoning, she took another bite to be sure. Again, she had the same results. The only thing wrong with his cooking was that he was entirely too good at it to be allowed. She nibbled at some bacon that was on the plate, finding it just as tender and juicy as it should be. Obviously the buttered toast was good. One would have to be a really culinary-challenged to screw up toast.

Before she knew it, everything had been wiped clean from the plate, and her glass of water had been completely emptied.

"How was it?" He asked, at ease again. He was leaning back in his chair, also finished with his food. She ogled at him, his hair messily splayed over his eyes. It was a nice look for him.

"Too good to be legal," she said, evidently giving him an egotistical boost. His smile was wondrous to behold.

"A chef always likes to hear praises on his food," he said unabashed by the trying-to-be-stern look she was giving him. "But I digress—a question I wish to have answered, if you would be so kind as to supply that answer." His voice was dripping with honey. Sakura only nodded, not wanting to speak at the moment.

"The village here needs a doctor. Several people are suffering because the medic on hand has gone a bit…senile." She looked at him waiting for him to get to the point. "I will you stay and…help out for a while." She analyzed his words. He had paused before saying 'help'. Was that his real reason for her life being spared?

"You can either nod or shake your head—this is not a trick question either. You can say no," he said it so ridiculously kind, she knew he wasn't lying. But it weighed on her conscious. If she said no, people would probably die because of inadequate treatment. She may not know the village, but if she could provide the necessary care, why should something as insignificant as not knowing someone matter? Besides, not knowing someone lasts for the few seconds it takes for introductions to be made. She nodded, willing to take on the challenge, so to speak.

"Good…thank you," he said kindly.

* * *

The funeral was a sad affair for the whole village. Almost everyone knew her, and the few that didn't, their parents did and informed them about her. Three people were there to talk of her to the crowd; the others just listened and mourned.

"Sakura Haruno was my apprentice," Tsunade said to the band of people. "I taught her as much as I could, but nothing I taught her could've prepared her for going up against Itachi Uchiha. She knew the risks of the mission, and I blame myself partly for having her go on it. She had the promise of overcoming me in her medical abilities and for that I had great pride in this woman. Konoha will have others like her, but none can duplicate who she was."

"Sakura was apart of my genin team…Team Seven. When I first met her…she would always hit me and tell me off for being loud and obnoxious, but she was kind all the same. She was also…one of the smartest in the Rookie Nine. I asked her for help loads of time. When Sasuke and I would fight…she would try and make us stop. She would yell at us too…if we made stupid mistakes…" Naruto was unable to continue his speech because he started crying too much to make intelligible words.

"I…Sakura was my student until Godaime took her under her wing to train her to become a medic. Several years ago…we…had been a couple. There was just something about her that sparkled like a diamond in pure sunlight. She would have moments where she'd be exceptionally angry by some injustice, or Naruto, but she was always a kind person. Gifted with unmatched chakra abilities for her age, she was undoubtedly going to become…one of Konoha's best medics…" Kakashi couldn't carry on, needing to turn away. Right now, he wanted nothing else but time alone with the memorial stone. His heart heavy with grief and sorrow, needed to spill the contents overrunning it.

"She was the second woman to make me cry," he whispered as he looked at the stone, sitting on the grass, ignoring the people thronging the area. Tears fell into his mask, soaking his forehead protector as well. And almost as if the heavens were mourning with him, they released a shower of rain over Konoha.

"God," he whispered, feeling the rain increase, "make her happy."

* * *

She amused him to no end. She clicked instantly with each worker in the village hospital, even the senile doctor. Occasionally he would go to see her happily doing her job, helping with the babies and the sick, with the sporadic idiots that thought it was cool to play with fire or to jump—not climb—barb wire fences. The best about the infrequent incidents caused from stupidity, the kids got a telling off and a long lecture about how dangerous things can be when privileges were abused. She really loved the non-ninja medical treatment.

"It's so stressful," she said as they ate lunch together one afternoon, not but a month into the work, "having to heal traumatic injuries day in and day out. But here," she smiled, "here I'm doing general check-ups, curing the flu, healing people for burning themselves accidentally by tipping boiling water while they were trying to get the eggs, and for running into a pole because they weren't watching where they were going. The best part is I'm not exhausted every night when I get off," she practically squealed at that. She was so enthusiastic about her work it was unbelievable.

About three months of her living there with him, when he was coming to pick her up for their usual lunch, one of her co-workers was teasing her about him—oblivious that he had walked through the door.

"Sakura, who is Mister Mysterious that comes and takes you to lunch every afternoon, is he your boyfriend?" The woman who was asking had platinum hair and dark brown eyes. Sakura flushed, and quickly put everything in her arms in its according place.

"Don't talk about him," she said hostilely, "he's not." The woman was so taken aback she shut her mouth and turned to look at the front door, where he stood. Her face went white to scarlet and she dove under her desk. Itachi wondered at the anger in her voice when she had replied to the blond.

Sakura grabbed her purse when she caught sight of him and put it on her shoulder. She still seemed to be angry by her actions, but he caught her eye, and saw tears there. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her to him as she tried to get past him.

"Stop," he said calmly. He felt her shiver and she complied with his wishes. They walked out of the hospital and through the village, but instead of their usual luncheon place, he took her to his house. Once they were inside, he had her sit on the couch in front of him (he was seated on the coffee table).

"Now tell me, what's wrong?" His voice was so kind; he wanted to compel her into talking. His hands were holding hers, gently massaging them. Tears sparkled in her gloriously green eyes.

"I don't know," she said simply, voice full of anguish. "I'm happy, I am, but…what Kimiko said just…" she trailed off, looking down, allowing her tears to stream down her pale cheeks. His right hand held both of hers as he wiped away her tears with the back of his left.

"Shh, Shh," he hushed her, putting a finger to her pink lips. Her face stained red as he moved closer into her. Her jade eyes glimmered like jewels, before they fluttered shut.

"I'm going to kiss you," he whispered lightly against her lips. "If you don't want me to, remove your hands from mine." He felt her hands twitch, hesitating—as though she was thinking over her answer. Finally, they pulled away. He sat back on the table and looked at her, her eyes still closed, tears still pouring from underneath the lids. He wiped away her tears again, and felt two warm hands cover his. The hands put his to her chest and he moved in closer once more.

"Say 'kiss me,'" he commanded in a lusty, sugar-coated voice.

"Kiss"—but before she could finish, he pressed his lips against hers. His hand went from her chest to the back of her neck, while his arm snaked around her waist. He pulled her into him as he lavished her small, full lips. Her breathing easily became labored, and he pulled back. He could feel his arousal pushing against his clothing, but he watched her.

Face flushed, glowing with the heat from the kiss, her eyes half-lidded, and haze covering said gem-like eyes. Her tongue licked her lips sinuously.

"Stand," he ordered in the same honeyed voice layered with desire. She did so without hesitation, and he shifted from sitting on the table to standing in front of the sofa. An arm encircled her waist and their lips brushed passionately. He stood at almost his full height to manipulate her into doing what he wanted her to do. She had to get on her toes to continue the kiss, and he removed his arm from her waist.

She lost her balance faster than he thought she would, and Itachi grinned when they landed on the couch, her straddling his waist. For a third time he wrapped an arm around her waist. Her breath got more uneven as the kissed each other. He pressured her into being on him completely, and he managed that as well.

His left hand held the back of her neck as they equally pressed theirs lips together. He licked her lips, and she rocked against him. He held her still when she moaned softly. He ached for her so bad.

"I-Itachi," she gasped as he trailed hot open-mouthed kisses down her throat.

"What," he said it almost irritated, still holding her to him as he pressed his lips to exposed flesh.

"I…only…have…a…thirty…minute…lunch…break…today…" she said it, almost out of fear it sounded like. Itachi had buried his face in her neck, and he growled possessively.

"You're not going anywhere," he said, nibbling at the neck tissue.

"But—I," Sakura attempted again.

"You—stay—here," he stated acerbically. His lips formed around hers firmly and she kissed back harder. His hands began to unbutton her shirt, but were intercepted by her hands at the unbuttoning job. He tugged on her waistband, pulling her forward a bit more. He was immensely grateful for her liking of skirts so much. By the time she was done unbuttoning the long-sleeve white obstacle, the lacey pink threads were at her thighs.

She moved his hands again, undoing the clasps for the lace. She threw the article of clothing to the floor. He kissed her again and whispered against her lips.

"Tell me this is want you want," he said, not as a command, but as a request to know he was doing something for them both. She was starting to unbuckle his jeans. He covered her hands with his.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you want this." He blinked and deactivated his sharigan. Sakura looked into his blackened eyes for the first time. She gasped in awe. "Tell me, Sakura, or we stop." She blinked and kissed him.

"Promise me you'll never leave me, and I'll give you anything you want." She stared him in the eyes, those dark eyes.

"I will _never_ leave you."

"_Promise_," she said.

"I promise."

"Then this is what I want. You are what I want." He removed her hands and did the job for them. He kissed her deeply, not warning her for entering. He felt her tense around him; he knew that she hadn't let anyone this close in a long time. He pulled back from the kiss he started and saw her eyes tight shut, tears leaking out of them. He kissed the briny liquid staining her face away.

"You ok?" He asked her tenderly. She pushed him deeper into her, and she winced at what she'd done. "Don't move, Sakura," he whispered soothingly. "We have all day and night." She smiled, her eyes opening. He kissed her gently on her lips and moved in her a little bit before moving out. He gradually went further into her, and she flinched.

"Sakura," he said it with a voice full of worry. She smiled weakly at him.

"Be gentle," she whispered, almost crying. It broke his heart to hear those words. She was still a virgin. I know she was once Kakashi's girlfriend, so why didn't he…? Itachi pushed it aside from his mind, not really wanting to know the answer. He kissed her cheek and held her to him, waiting for her to adjust.

"I-Itachi," Sakura breathed against his neck. He felt further aroused by her breathless voice.

"We're going lay down," he whispered, holding her to him. She agreed with him, and he laid her on her back. Her head was on the armrest of the sofa. He kissed her, moving in deeper, marveling at how good it felt. She arched into him as they kissed and he moved out slowly. He didn't want to hurt her.

He pressed into her, and pulled out gently, progressively deeper and faster. She held onto his shoulders with an almost death-grip, and he saw her lips taut with the effort to restrain cries of pain every now and then. His heart hurt, seeing her like this, but if they'd stop now, he'd never get to show her how good it was.

Eventually, her hands had entwined playfully in his hair and their lips were on fire. He leaned into her as her chest arched up into him and he denied her his lips. Smoothly deepening his thrusts, causing her to lie back down with a faint flush forming over her cheeks, he moved faster in her, and he felt her tighten around him.

Her hands stayed in his hair, she wasn't bold enough to touch him as they made love—not yet at least.

He moved in and out of her at a rhythmic pace that she could follow. She pressed against him, and encouraged him to move faster. He pressed himself in to her, moving steadily quicker. He could hear her gasping as he delved into her; she had wrapped her legs around his waist. He took her hands and held them in one of his own above her head. Itachi kissed her lips gently and looked her in the eyes. They had widened with fear.

"Shh, shh," he whispered. She was too tight around him and he continued to move in her. He was close too, but he increased the pace a bit more. He felt her contractions, and soon ecstasy enveloped him as well.

Carefully, he adjusted everything and buttoned his jeans. He then picked her up, her eyes watching him warily, and kissed her tenderly on the lips. He carried her to the bedroom, lying her down on the comforter. He went to the window to see the birds flocking a tree.

"You lie here with me," she stated crossly, eyeing him as he hadn't moved an inch from the window. Itachi chuckled.

"Yes ma'am," he said amusedly, and lay down behind her, draping his left arm over her waist. He kissed behind her ear.

"I'll be right here," he whispered, his eyes watching her.

"Mmhmm," she mumbled, sleep already overtaking her.

"Sleep well, cherry blossom," and he kissed her cheek, eyes closing as well.

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Starts in Kakashi POV.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 6: Cupid's Hate**

A year…it's been a year.

Kakashi's thoughts revolved around the anniversary mark, looking at the memorial stone, seeing Sakura's name engraved—Obito's and Rin's were further up the line, but still it was unnerving. Everyone he had been close to had been lost to Konoha, only Naruto had stayed. Sure, he did have other friends—Genma and Asuma, Kurenai and Anko—but only Naruto was left of those who knew his personal details.

Luna Yasashii was due to changing her name to Hatake, but she wouldn't last long with him. He would eventually screw up with her as well. He lay back in the grass and looked into the blue skies.

He still didn't believe she was gone. Sakura wasn't one to go down without a fight. Another reason why he held onto his vain hope is he had strained his brain to remember what happened.

Sakura was running towards him, but Itachi intercepted her. Something had happened and Itachi cradled her head in his hands, and he sensed chakra passing through him into Sakura. They were gone in a manner of seconds. Not but a minute later did the opposing shinobi follow their direction. It was Sakura that they were after, that's why they left once she had been taken.

Why, why did they want Sakura? She meant little—she was not the most powerful of the ninja in Konoha. She was only an extraordinary medic. So that may have been their intention—to steal her and return her, but it's been a year.

He tried explaining this to Tsunade, but she wouldn't hear anymore about it. She told him that his memory was faulty because he was begging that she was still alive, which caused a fake memory to be implanted in his mind. He didn't believe her though. He just _knew_ she was still alive. And he would find her, one day, he would find her.

* * *

He felt her stirring beside him, and he barely opened an eye to see the time of day: still dark—the birds weren't even up. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him.

"Too early," he whispered hoarsely. He was _tired_. He hadn't been tired in a long time. "Sleep, Sakura," he dictated. He knew she was the cause of his exhaustion.

"I'm not tired though," she complained childishly. He grinned into her pink strands of hair.

"I am, so, you are going to stay." He loved his ability to control her effortlessly—sometimes. There were times that she would be obstinate, and his persuasion techniques turned more sexual than voiced. She didn't seem to mind physical over mental though, which also made him happy.

"Can't I just go outside for…five minutes to look at the moon?" She pleaded with him. Her voice sounded so adorable.

"It's cold outside, Sakura," he tried convincing her half-heartedly now.

"I'll take a blanket," she replied coolly. He kissed her neck gently, feeling her mold to him almost immediately—tonight would be easy persuasion, so he thought.

She was too quick for him to catch an appendage as she jumped from the bed. Normally when she tried this he could get her wrist, but tonight, his reflexes were slow. Grumbling, he threw the comforter off him and got up to chase after her.

Her bare feet on the hardwood floor smacked with each connection. He would let her sit outside for a while if she wanted to, now that he was up.

"Itachi," she yelled. His calm, stoic manner changed to that of panic and his lazy walk turned into a run. When he got outside, she was in no danger, but looking into the sky with awe. He sighed and held her from behind, pressing her back into his chest.

"It's beautiful," she said, looking at the aurora borealis painted the sky. He knew she had never seen one before.

"Not as beautiful as you though, sweetheart," he kissed her flaming hot cheek. He could feel her chagrin as her hands touched his forearms. Turning into him, she stood on her toes to form her lips against his. He breathed deeply her sweet scent as they stayed embraced like that.

They broke away from each other to watch the glimmering lights twinkle pinks, blues, yellow-oranges, and purples. It was breathtaking to have someone to share this with. She snuggled closer into him, her green eyes incandescent with the picturesque, scintillating view reflected in them.

The next morning, a knock on the door woke Itachi from his sleep. It was probably six thirty in the morning in fact. His sleeping beauty lay curled up under the comforter, breathing even.

He snuck out of bed, and went for the door, pulling on a bathrobe so as to not appear half-naked in front of the guest. The person behind the door began to pound incessantly on the door. When he had opened the door, he almost wished he was too deeply asleep to have heard the knocking.

"Itachi, sir," a missing-nin by the name Hyto Megumi was at the door. "They're planning another attack on Konoha, in three days. They figured out how to break through the city's walls. We need your help in stopping them." He looked at Itachi, who was mulling it over in his head.

If I stop them, they'd be after me, but if I don't stop them… Sakura has friends there; she wouldn't want them to be killed. She would want them to be spared, even if she hadn't been gone for so long.

"Itachi…?" He heard his name called from the bedroom of the house. She had woken up. He turned back to Hyto.

"I…I'll help, now go, please." Hyto nodded, bowed, and departed in a blink of an eye. Itachi sighed heavily, and shut the door, leaning against the wall. He felt her arms around him as she cried softly into him.

"Shh, Sakura, it's ok, I'm here. Someone was at the door," he wanted to kick himself for drawing her attention to it. Her gleaming eyes stared up at him with a quizzical stare.

"Who was—what did they want?" She didn't sound suspicious, just curious. He couldn't lie to her though. He scratched at his head and gave her a shifty look.

"Sakura…a band of people are going to try and take over Konoha." She gasped eyes wide with fear. "I was asked to help stop them and bring them to their senses about attacking the city. I said yes."

"I'm coming with you." The words barely registered in his head, but he had heard them loud and clear.

"No you're not," he said firmly. He would be damned to let her come with him to stop the plan from being set in motion. She removed herself from his body.

"Konoha's my home," she argued. "I want to help save it." Those words hurt him. He reacted in anger.

"Go back to it, Sakura! Go back to Konoha!" She looked at him with eyes full of tears.

"You—you don't want me?" Her voice cracked. She hugged herself tightly. He felt horrible for his rash words, and he moved towards her. She made a motion indicating she would run, but he grasped her wrists and pulled her tightly into him. Her hands fisted the bathrobe and she wept. His arms were around her shoulders and he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"I thought _this_ was your home, Sakura. I thought _I_ held your heart, or is it still in Konoha?" She hiccupped, but stopped crying.

"You do," she whimpered, "but all of my friends are there. I…I don't want them hurt," she murmured.

"I won't let them get hurt."

"Please, Itachi let me. I haven't been in a battle in a long time."

"Which is exactly why I don't want you to go," he sighed. This is so very…troublesome, he thought, not liking the way things were going.

"You promised you would never leave me," she countered. She won, of course. He had made her that promise months ago, and he was going to keep that promise.

"Wouldn't you rather stay here though?" He tried to persuade her feebly. He knew the answer was going to be no before she even opened her mouth to speak.

"No, Itachi, I want to be with you."

"Just checking," he replied smoothly. "So, can I tell you I told you so about the two weeks vacation now, or should I wait?" It did the trick and she laughed warmly.

"You're never allowed to, how about that," she smiled at him.

"That wasn't in the answer choices."

"I'll make you a proposition," she said naughtily, breaking away from his embrace, and swayed back towards the bedroom. "You add it to the answer choices, and I'll forget we were taking a break." He grinned, following after her.

"Deal," he said, taking off the robe. She was learning the art of persuasion quite well, if he did say so himself.

* * *

The travel back to Konoha's border wasn't difficult, but now they had to find the cult that was going to try and bring down Konoha. Easier said than done as Konoha's border stretched for miles and they didn't know where the band of people would attack first.

"Sakura, stay close to me," Itachi whispered low as she fell behind a bit. She watched him stalk about like a cat on the prowl, but followed his instruction with haste. It had been a long time since she had seen his more sinister side.

She heard voices, hushed and collective. There was a shout and a rather loud exclamation. Silence fell over the forest once more. However, this time it wasn't the quiescence it had been before those voices. It was a tense stillness, an apprehensive pause. She didn't like it; it made her feel as though something should've been happening. Her fingers twitched at her sides.

"Hold, men," a voice called out. Sakura stiffened and Itachi heard her stop.

"Sakura," he hissed, "stay by me." His anger was practical. He was edgy with her there. She could see how tense it made him. She got closer to him, holding onto his arm.

"Outsiders," another uncomfortable quiet filled the area. Itachi began to move towards where the voices were, and soon faces and voices were connected. They watched them emerge from the underbrush of the forest, and the person who looked like the leader stared anxiously at Itachi.

"Warren," Itachi said with definite prowess. Sakura held fast to Itachi's arm. "Stop this madness. You're plan won't work without proper reinforcements, and frankly, you don't have the power behind you to take me out." Itachi's bluntness for the situation sent shivers through her being.

"Who's the woman?" Warren's curiosity had been triggered.

"None of your concern," Itachi bit out animalistic. Sakura caught the undertones of a threat in his voice.

"Hmm, in that case, you give her to us and we won't attack the village, otherwise, we carry through with our plan." She thought about it. Better one than the whole village. Better her than all of her friends. Her foot inched her away from him. The arm she was loosely holding onto snaked painfully tight around her waist.

"Don't you dare," he murmured heatedly to Sakura. His eyes flashed at Warren. "She stays with me and you still stop your attack." Warren gave him a disparaging look.

"No can do, Itachi." With that, he gave the command to attack—just as Konoha ANBU members ambushed the party. Itachi took Sakura into his arms, but they didn't get away in time. Two of the special ops group came after them, forcing Itachi to put Sakura down and fight.

She watched as they fought, hiding from them, praying no one would notice her. The two ANBU members fell to the forest floor twitching before lying still. Sakura knew enough to know that both were unconscious and temporarily paralyzed.

"What did you do to them?" She asked when he came to pick her up once more.

"Pressure points," he shrugged. "More humane I figured," he said nonchalant. Sakura nodded and stood beside him. Somehow, the ANBU that had ambushed the gathering—the members of the cult now incapacitated—hadn't detected the presence of Sakura and Itachi save for the two. They hid behind a tree, watching the special task force take off with the wounded and paralyzed bodies of the faction. It ended so quick, Sakura's head whirled from it.

She fell into the clearing, landing on the ground hard. Itachi walked out from behind the tree to smile at her.

"You ok?" He asked sweetly, pulling her into him. She loved how warm he felt to her.

"Yeah," she whispered, eyes closing, her face tilted up towards his. He had caught then hint and his lips pressed pillow-soft to hers.

"Sakura…?" She unwillingly broke from the kiss, turning the direction her name had come from. He was holding a torch, bathing the clearing even further into light. He ran towards them, but Itachi took her hand, ready to bolt, but he couldn't move. Shika was using his jutsu to hold Itachi in place, and from what little movement she had, Shika had taken over her shadow as well.

"Kakashi was right," was all Shikamaru could say, and then Kakashi appeared in the clearing. Sakura could see Kakashi working out the finer details of the situation in his head. He stared back and forth between Itachi and her. She saw his eyes fix on their hands intertwined like lovers united, standing to fight. His exposed eye was filled with rage and he pulled out a kunai. Sakura knew what he was going to do with it and she began to cry.

"Kakashi, _please_…! Don't do it!"

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Starts in Itachi POV.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 7: Pained Imagery**

He saw several things at once. The man who manipulated shadows had caught both him and Sakura in his web. The man he had once worked alongside with, only to fight him on several occasions to leave him injured severely. His healer, his savoir…his lover, standing beside him, was crying. A kunai whistled in his ear as it whizzed by, missing him by inches.

Sakura sank to her knees still heaving with sobs. Itachi felt his hands stiffen at his sides. He noted that the manipulator of shadows had released her from his control. Unfortunately, he was still under the command of the man.

"Sakura," Kakashi said, looking at her with disbelief. It was understandable that Kakashi did so. Itachi's record was notorious after all. Renowned prodigy gone astray, murdered his entire clan to test his power, said to be mad…the list goes on. However, Sakura made no indication that he had spoken to her. In fact, her tears stopped altogether. She stood up, albeit shakily, and walked behind Itachi. She held him from behind in her arms. He could feel her warm cheek pressing into his back.

Words failed the two that didn't belong. Both Kakashi and the shadow controller didn't speak, unable to find a sentence to question the one behind Itachi. Little did the two men know; Sakura was whispering words to him, telling him that their time together had shortened.

"Their going to have you locked away," she whimpered. Itachi could hear the tears in her voice. "They will hold a trial…but I don't see what difference it could make…" she began talking more to herself. As Sakura spoke to herself about all the horrific possibilities of Itachi's fate, the two men had come up with something to say to her.

"Move away from Itachi," Kakashi ordered, but Sakura's grip around his midriff didn't slacken. "You'll be coming home, now release him."

"You first," she said mordantly. Her tone was severe and cold and Itachi had never heard anything like it from her before.

"He is a criminal, like hell we'll let him be free." Kakashi's words were none the better, it was apparent both had negative feelings for the other.

"As are you, Kakashi-_sensei_!" Itachi knew both were on the same level of ability. It wasn't hard to figure out that 'sensei' had been used as an insult. "At least I have found a man who knows how to give and receive love graciously without having to betray it with words." The blow below the belt, if he'd been in Kakashi's place, he would've been stung by her words. And judging by what Itachi could see of his face, Kakashi _was_ hurt.

"Never mistake, Kakashi—I have seen a life without the constant fear of war, and the days are longer, with even shorter nights. We had futures, silly things we could hallucinate, promises that could be kept. I never dreamed that I would be able to feel so contented without having to fight everyday for my life. I basked in the laziness of the day.

"But here, in Konoha, our days are short-lived, and we make the mistake of living for what the future will bring. As shinobi, we do not have futures, just another day that we were granted because we were strong enough to survive. I saw Itachi's new life and it surrounded him in everything he did, but upon entering a place where they care not for repented sins—but the fact that those sins had been committed, repented or not—and to have justice served as such isn't right." She still held onto him, waiting for their reaction to her speech.

"We are not forgiven easily for murders." It was a simple reply from the shadow man.

* * *

"We are all murderers! I know I have killed more than enough people, and Kakashi—you have a long list of whom you've killed, and Shikamaru, you have killed as well." Her voice had become softer as she spoke.

"We do only because we are shinobi," Kakashi said.

"No, Kakashi, we do it because we are paid. We are assassins in a sense. We can be classified as mercenaries too, hell; we could even be thrown in jail because of what we've done as ninja! Itachi was no more in the wrong than we are ourselves. You cannot deny it either!"

"He killed his entire family."

"What is your point on that, Kakashi? We have killed families before, not our own, but we've killed someone else's family. We have killed grandparents and parents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins! We are murderers, nothing will change that! At least Itachi did it for something that he could take with him everywhere he goes. Money is just a temporary state, but power stays with you until you die."

Her eyes glowed with a mad fire as she preached to them. They were ignorant or blind or both! How could they not see that they were weapons? Weapons created to fight and defend, human nonetheless however. They didn't answer her when she stopped. No rebuttal for her undeniable statements.

She felt her arms being pulled away from Itachi's waist, and knew Shikamaru was the one prying her hands from Itachi. Her shadow was once more under his control. An odd sleepiness overcame her as she was made to remove her hands from her love.

She was floating, on a cloud it felt like. The cloud took her down from the skies and showed her the ground. On the ground, there was this long, dark tunnel. Positioned in front of this tunnel was Itachi, draped in white attire. He was motioning her to come down from the cloud. She acceded to his request and hopped down from the cloud to race into his arms. Itachi smiled and took her hand.

"Come with me," he said pleasantly, waving his hand towards the dark tunnel. Sakura nodded without hesitation, allowing him to lead her to the mouth of the tunnel.

"Sakura, don't," Kakashi said, taking her other hand, holding it to his chest. "Please don't go with him." Itachi tugged on her gently, and she let her foot fall in the direction of Itachi. Kakashi's hold on her disappeared, as did he, and she allowed Itachi to lead her through the pitch blackness of the tunnel.

She woke from the dream. She panicked when she didn't recognize where she was. She wasn't home, in the peaceful village, with Itachi holding her in their bed. _Their_, she focused mainly on that word as the thoughts continued to multiply in her head. Where was she at?

Itachi…she thought, seeing the man curled towards the wall, still fast asleep. He was on the other side of the vertical bars. They were separated. She wanted to reach out and stroke his smooth, black hair, to see the sharigan-lit eyes stare at her with perpetual kindness, to inhale his intoxicating scent, to hear his voice whispering in her ear, and to taste his warm, moist lips on her own.

"Itachi," she whispered hoarsely. Her voice didn't seem like it wanted to cooperate. He stirred, as if he had been awake already. His black eyes were tired and purplish bruising marked under his eyes for a lack of sleep. His smile brightened the poor face, and he moved towards the bars that divided them.

"Sakura," he replied, breathing deeply. His left hand petted her right cheek, and a tear fell from her eye. His hand was smoother than she remembered it to be, but it was still him.

"I don't want to lose you," she cried softly, and he tenderly held her face in his hands. Their eyes locked together, and she could see just as much anguish in his face.

"I don't want to leave you. I would break my promise." He smiled at her and she almost wanted to have a breakdown so she could cry at how he was more concerned about keeping his promise rather than living.

"Itachi," she tried again, but tears sparkled in her jade green eyes. He still held her face in his hands still lovingly gentle.

"Shh, Sakura, each moment we possess does not need to be filled with meaningless chatter. Let it be quiet, you always appreciated silence." His words were true, but she wanted to do what he wanted. He was giving her so much, but she could barely give him anything.

"What is it that you appreciate, Itachi?" She asked genially, tears still brimming.

"You, now shh," he smiled wanly, and she knew he wanted to kiss her. If only the bars were wide enough to allow that much contact, she would be thankful. Her eyes closed, and the tears leaked from the lightly shut eyelids. She could feel his thumbs soothingly erase the tears from her face. It wasn't helping though. She wanted his arms around her. She wanted to be sitting in his lap as he kissed sweet trails of kisses down her jaw line. She wanted the bars of this cell gone.

A clanging noise startled the couple and pulled them apart. The interrupter didn't seem to care that he had done just that though.

* * *

It was difficult to say if he was angry at Sakura. Her words were so accurate; one could see clearly that she had won the argument back in the forest. That's why Shika had to knock both of them out. Yet, Sakura had given him a million things to think about, like she always did. Something within him initiated when she would pose questions or come up with relative answers, and even when he was dead tired, his mind wouldn't allow him to give way to sleep because his thoughts were too focused on the question or answer Sakura had given to him. So he is found in this state today.

He decided he would go and visit Sakura and Itachi in the cell they were placed in last night, so as to question and get opinions. Mainly though, he was going for enlightenment. Why would Sakura choose to be with someone like Itachi? After everything that had transpired with Sasuke, he thought the girl had learned that the Uchiha clan wasn't worth the trouble it got itself into. That's why it was in its current state and down to one member. He knew Itachi had finished off Sasuke, Pakkun having seen the ordeal.

Luna had complained. She was not essentially a selfish creature, so her fighting him on going was strange to encounter. He had decided that he would go to the place around eleven in the morning, but she kept insisting him not to go.

"Kakashi, what purpose would it serve—you going to talk to them? I know Itachi, as incriminating as it sounds, before I reformed, Itachi was a ruthless killer."

"But Luna, you don't know Sakura. She's even got me thinking about this life we live as shinobi. For instance, are we our own people or just pawns in high-ranking peoples plots? We do the dirty work and remove oppositions, aren't we also killers in that fact?" She then had to nag about how she was tired of him going on about things that Sakura had said or didn't say that caused this weird going on in his brain. He wasn't brave enough to mention the subject of her mood swigs lately and the fact that it was hard for him to keep up, so he let sleeping dogs lie. However, Kakashi did go to the cell.

There were unanswered questions, things he needed to know. He continued to ask himself why she had chosen Itachi, of all people. Had Itachi reformed? He still cared for Sakura—even though she was alive when everyone but Kakashi had thought her dead—and he wanted to be able to empathize with her predicament, but the loose ends weren't tied off completely. She alone could make him understand what she saw in him.

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Starts in Sakura POV.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 8: Thief of Hearts**

She wanted to hurt him. It was plain. Nothing in the world would've changed her mind at that moment. Her anger flared unnervingly.

"Calm down," she heard Itachi whisper in her ear. It was difficult to listen to him. She wanted so badly to hurt him, to inflict some pain. "Don't fight, Sakura," he whispered, touching her hand through the bars.

"I…know that you're not pleased with me, Sakura, but… I need to know something." Kakashi's words almost fell on deaf ears. However, mostly Itachi made her decision. His eyes looked desperate for her to comply when she looked at him.

"You're right," she said, frown evident on her face, her jaw tight, eyes watering while still looking into Itachi's. "I'm not pleased with you, but…" she covered Itachi's hand with her other. "For him, I will do what he asks." A tear slid slowly down her cheek, and Itachi wiped it away, and the others that were to follow, he stopped before they were released.

She heard the loudness of the key turning in its lock, and she marveled at the squeak in the bars as they moved out of place for the moment. She stood gently, allowing her hands to fall away from Itachi's. It almost broke her heart to leave him. Her nose burned horribly, but she would not cry.

Once outside the cell, Kakashi led her to a room, one of the interrogation rooms. She didn't care though. She would be back with her love soon.

"Sakura," Kakashi started, once both had sat down. "Please…start at the beginning. I need to know everything about Itachi." She glared hard at him, still feeling a bit emotional.

"Why do you need to know about Itachi?" Her voice didn't quaver, but it did sound unused and rough. She watched Kakashi's body movements greatly. His hands were on the table, but he leaned over and began to run his fingers through silver locks of hair that weren't there because of his age. He looked disheveled, as though he'd suffered a sleepless night.

"I want to know…because…Sakura…" he looked up to meet her gaze, and the look in his deepened eye startled her. Millions of emotions crossed it, and she was amazed to find acceptance there beside jealousy. "Sakura, I want to know that he makes you happy. I want to hear everything. I don't want you to hold back."

"Kakashi," she whispered, laying her head on the cool table, her pink locks splaying over the surface. Her thoughts crowded her mind. He wanted to know she was happy…that she was being taken care of. He wanted her to tell him that she had found someone better than him for her… Because he never saw himself worthy of having me, Sakura realized.

"That day, the village was attacked, it was—at first a plot to kidnap me for a time to help with the village Itachi lived in. They had needed a medic, and Itachi had been watching over me." She took a breath, and continued, still resting her forehead on the table. "Sasuke had asked Itachi to watch over me…as a dying wish."

"So Itachi was looking for you while we fought?" Sakura's head snapped up from the desk and felt a dizzy spell wash over her. Once her head had cleared, she questioned Kakashi's rhetorical question.

"So what…he was looking around for me?" She didn't seem to comprehend. How could anyone do two things at once while fighting someone? Then a reminder of her days being a genin and Kakashi holding his perverted books while Naruto blindly attacked. A grin stole over her face for a moment. Peaceful times, those times when one was young and innocent, before all the problems of the world begin to crack the ceiling to have it all come tumbling down, collapsing on one's head.

"Yes…sort of, but please…continue…I was out of place to interrupt." His formal talk was very different from his regular demeanor, but if he wished to be so with her, who was she to tell him otherwise?

"When I found you two fighting, I was running towards you, in vain wanting to save you. But Itachi caught me around the middle and I cracked my head on a stone that was in the ground under the leaves. He…inexpertly healed the wound, but he healed it. I fell asleep as he carried me off to the village.

"When I woke up, I saw him, sitting in a chair, staring me down, but not hostilely. He was calm, and we interrogated each other. I asked him why he saved me and he said 'my brother's dying wish.'" Her lip trembled as she spoke because it—Sasuke's death—wasn't mourned as much as it should have been. "Itachi held me and hushed me to sleep. He understood—he was kind…

"The next morning he made me breakfast, and made me the offer of returning to Konoha if I worked at the hospital in the village. The little village wasn't full of shinobi; it was full of ordinary kids and adults. Itachi and I were the only two ninjas, for miles it seemed like. I didn't want to come back after working there.

"I loved the normalcy of it. The situations surreal in this life here, but almost everyday ordeals in that village, are so…indescribable. I was so used to it there, I forgot about Konoha." She watched Kakashi as he mulled it over in his head. He just waited patiently for Sakura to finish her story.

* * *

"Three months into living with Itachi, I let him get closer than anyone…we… He was so good to me… He's changed Kakashi," she pleaded with him to understand. His exposed eye widened when she mentioned briefly of how far their relationship had gotten. "He's not the murderer you make him out to be. He's gentle, Sasuke did this to him—I just know he did." 

"So you're still living for Sasuke?" His condescending words, sharp as knives, cut Sakura. Her venomous glare sent back hatred.

"No, Kakashi, Sasuke was someone I never had…a wasted folly. Do not compare my feelings to my younger days." She looked as though she was analyzing what else she could say, but everything else Kakashi knew. "If you're through, I wish to go back." Kakashi nodded and stood, Sakura following suit.

The same way they had walked to it, they walked back in silence. Kakashi opened Itachi's cell this time, looking defeated. Sakura rushed past him and flew into Itachi. He received her well, taking her in his arms and holding her tightly.

He felt ashamed of being there in the same _area_ as the lovers. On the outside looking in on a scene that could've had him in the place of Itachi, but he had screwed it all up. He took a quick glance at them, and felt a wave of remorse weave its way into him.

Itachi and Sakura were locked in a tight embrace. Lips touching each other's so _directly_ it was hard to distinguish whose lips belong to which face. It was bittersweet to watch it. The girl he had love, and possibly still cared deeply for, in the arms of someone who deserved the least amount of love.

Goes to show something, Kakashi thought, as he tried to ignore the couple as he quickly locked the cell again. Give all of your love and you will be given a prosperous deal in turn. He walked out of the jail—so to speak—watching the sun blaze high overhead.

"I am happy for you Sakura," he said, looking back on the prison he had put them in. "I just wish I hadn't held back."

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Starts in Itachi POV. NOTE! Flashbacks occur in UNDERLINED font so as to not interrupt the story.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 9: The Trial**

"The girl stays," a man with a deep, gruff voice ordered as Sakura tried to follow him out. He looked back at Sakura and held her hands. The man at the gate waited impatiently.

"Sakura," Itachi said, gripping her hands tighter, he pulled her into him. He kissed the top of her head. "No matter what, you know what the possibilities are. No regrets," he ordered her, but she persisted.

"Itachi," she sniffed, "I don't want you to…to…" she was almost in tears as he held her head to his chest. He made hushing tones to her, soothing her in the way that was best. It was his only method because it seemed to him that the right words failed him with grave matters, and her tears were too true to what lay ahead of him. The intensity of what was to become of him made his tone stone.

"Some things time can't change, Sakura," he said, his voice hard. "In those times, you have to do whatever it takes for you to pull through." And he released her. Time seemed to slow as his arms fell from her torso and he moved away from her. The cell was closed as soon as he had passed the threshold and she was still locked inside. She didn't resemble a bird longing for freedom though, and her eyes called to him to come back.

"Itachi," she whispered, a solid line of tears pouring down the side of her cheeks. He couldn't bear to have her look at him with such remorse. He turned his head back to the blond.

"This way," the man said with a finality to it that irked Itachi. The platinum color of his blond hair and the murkiness of his blue eyes rubbed him the wrong way. Itachi fixed his sharigan eyes on the man with a hard glare. The man turned away and didn't say anything.

Itachi followed the man as he led the way. Outside, they continued to walk down the side road, avoiding the main street where the commoners dwelt. He was grateful that they didn't drag Sakura into it, and hadn't allowed her to go. She'll kill herself after saying goodbye to me, he thought as he entered the court.

"Thank you, Mr. Yamanaka," the Godaime said in falsely pleasant tones. "You may shut the door now." Her hands were folded on the desk and she looked at him with oceanic eyes, however, lightening seemed to flash through them. The door shut irresistibly.

* * *

She was on her feet, pacing. Thinking about how long he'd been gone, it seemed too long. It pained her deeply to be away from him, and now…this…tragedy wished to break them apart. Almost as if Kakashi alone had held the manifestations of this sickness being poured down her throat.

'Itachi,' she whispered, the night setting into them. Her burning desire quenched for the moment, she lay contentedly on his bare, hard chest. She almost wanted to cry, feeling so serene in his arms. A solitary tear dripped onto his chest and he reacted to it instantly.

'What's wrong?' He asked her. He had sat up, still holding her to him—his breath hot in her ear. He was genuinely concerned.

'Do you…really…feel this?' Her question was off-handed, and she didn't recognize her voice when she had said it. His breath was still in her ear.

'The jealousy of every man that does a kind gesture for you and you return it with a smile and a breathy 'thank you'…yes, I do.' His voice was normal for him, the cool, hard tone, yet somehow laid-back as well. This news had surprised her; she never knew that he had ever felt that way towards anyone.

'You…do? Why didn't you tell me?' She heard him chuckle and he brushed his lips against her cheek.

'Because, I'm not good at expressing myself with those feelings in words,' he said, nuzzling her cheek with his nose. She could almost feel him grinning.

'Oh,' she whispered, and she could definitely tell he was grinning now. His lips brushed slightly underneath her jaw.

'Consequently,' he said, continuing to antagonize her senses with his ministrations, 'I am much better at _showing_ my feelings.' His lips captured hers in a startling kiss. Her psyche opened, as if she had been awake for the past hours.

Soon, his breath was on her neck. The pain aside, she whispered his name slowly to enunciate completely. His skin was hot beneath her fingers, and she encouraged him gently, breathing his name in the steady procession of the ebb and flow. He answered her back, his voice more beautiful tonight. Her eyelids fluttered shut and he kissed them gently. He brushed his lips once more across hers.

'Don't be afraid,' he whispered at ease in the apex of desire. He was comfortable with this lust, but she was still inexperienced.

'I'll be strong,' she smiled, eyes opening to reveal the tears there. Itachi kissed her once more, and Sakura let her lips form indefinitely with his.

That night, they had slept closer in each other's arms.

So much had been said that night without words. She was in love with that idea, and she was in love with him. Only that night, almost fourteen days ago, was she inescapably sure she had fallen absolutely in love with him.

Suddenly, the door opened and her head snapped up. Unexpectedly, she had sat down, having drifted into the past. Itachi, she thought desperately. The gate to the cell opened and she rushed at him. Only…she stopped.

His eyes, they were hardened, and the blackest black. No, they were _blacker_. Darker and bleaker than the deepest, moonless night…perpetual, they even looked lifeless. She froze in place, taking into account what this stoniness meant.

"Oh god…no, god…no…!" She broke down. She hit the floor with her knees and she buried her hands in her face. So much she had found with him. A new life, a new leaf…the Itachi that wasn't power-hungry. They didn't know him. He had repented. But all of that didn't matter anymore. All of that went to waste, and for what?

"Sakura," he got on his knees too, and wrapped secure arms around her. "I have one week." She sobbed harder on him. It _physically_ hurt to cry. Her body shook with the tears flowing incessantly from her eyes. She knew it was coming, but god…it was too much.

"It's not that though…Itachi…I've lost Kakashi…and now…I'm going to lose you too!" She wailed, "I…I'll be all alone…" she whispered. Her tears were quieter now, and she was realizing how proximity became, unambiguous…explicit.

* * *

"That's not true," he whispered, his lips forming the words on her throat. He then pulled away from her, her face shining with tears. Her pink hair curled around her heart-shaped face. She looked so beautiful, and a shot of pain went through his heart. He wanted to comfort her with actual words, actual gestures, even if it didn't work.

"I will always be here." He touched her head. "I will always be in your thoughts." She whimpered at his words.

"I will always remain here." He touched her heart, where her heartbeat pulsed. "No one else has been there, and I will never leave that beautiful place." Her eyes streamed, closing as more saline liquid poured forth.

"I will linger here." His fingertips gently brushed her lips. "Though they may touch another's, my kiss will always be more satisfying." And, taken by surprise, a set of chakra within Sakura had changed patterns. Oh no…he thought, thankful that her eyes were still closed. He never had thought about the possibilities, too caught up in each moment. It had never occurred to be probable to him either.

She hadn't noticed anything. No symptoms, no worries, no indication on her part whatsoever that something was different about her. That was probable too; he had heard it happened to someone within that surreal village. He felt an unfamiliar wetness caressing his face. He pulled Sakura into him, to hide his tears in her hair. He didn't want her to see him weakened like this.

* * *

He had escorted Itachi back to the cell. They had exchanged no words, but he had an idea of what was going through the true sharigan user's head. He's thinking about how he'll tell Sakura that she's going to be alone. A week left with Sakura is not enough to satiate even a man's thirst for a woman's companionship. He knew that, even with relations pertaining to intense making out.

She always wanted to go further, but he would stop her before that. Maybe he still had mixed feelings at that point, but it stung him to find her house locked completely after he said rash words to her, now six years ago.

The lock was impenetrable; it was molded to Sakura's chakra, so only she could open it. She only put her house on that deep of lock-down when she wouldn't be returning for a long time. He remembered teaching it to her, by means of protection as well as her use.

He had wanted to apologize and beg her to take him back, but she left, so he tried to move on. It hurt him to know that she still hadn't moved on after being separated from him for five years. Yet, he hadn't moved on either. He couldn't let go of Luna—for fear of having no one in doing so—but to see Sakura so wrapped up in Itachi burned him so much. He had let go of one of the best things he had in his life, and traded it for his soon-to-be wife.

However, Itachi was different. His fighting style had changed. He didn't use his sharigan on Kakashi, not even when he was close to finishing him off. Itachi even seemed hesitant to fighting to that extreme. The way he handled Sakura when he took her in his arms was so different from how he had acted. It wasn't normal.

As he stood there, listening to Itachi's proclamations, he understood something. He watched while Itachi held Sakura to him—as a thought struck him deeply—an unsettling thought. The decision was made before he could disregard it, because he knew she would be happy. He wanted her to be happy, and that's all that mattered. For her to just live…it would never be enough. She was meant to love and to be loved.

He left them there, to tell Tsunade what he desired to do for Sakura.

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Starts in Kakashi POV. Sorry for the lateness.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 10: Only You**

Tsunade consented, only after thorough interrogation. She had questioned his purity of his will, and the reason he wanted to do it. He had proven Itachi's worth, the repentance of the now only survivor of the Uchiha clan. It had taken well into the night to do so, the process was dreary, and he knew Tsunade wouldn't have acquiesced with his plea had he not been who he was.

All the while, he didn't think of his choice's consequences. He didn't care though, he will have redeemed himself in Sakura's eyes, and that's all that mattered to Kakashi. No one else's approval was needed except hers.

Luna and he didn't speak to each other. She was already asleep by the time he had gotten home. He loved her, but Sakura had meant more to him…for some reason he wanted her to be content. For some unknown reason, her feelings meant more than anyone else's.

* * *

Tsunade came to them the next day.

"Sakura, you and Itachi are allowed to return to your home." Sakura looked at Tsunade asking a plain question in doing so; he could read her face so easily. "The home here, in Konoha," Tsunade answered quickly. "Though his charges are…being debated, the council and I feel that these last days should be comfortable…" she seemed hesitant to reply to Sakura. He was quick to catch that. Then he noticed the older woman's resolve stiffen minutely. There had been another shift in Sakura's chakra.

"Sakura…?" Tsunade whispered quietly, but the pink-haired woman still heard it.

"What is it?" She asked looking confused once more. The blond just shook her head.

"Nothing…it's nothing…never mind." Tsunade had the guard open the cell, which creaked eerily. Itachi knew Tsunade had caught on. He took Sakura's arm and pulled her with him with irresistible force.

"Itachi," she yelped, once they had managed to get outside. He took in a breath and released his grasp on her arm.

"I'm sorry Sakura." Sincerity laced his words and as he stroked her cheek with his fingertips, tears filled her eyes. She launched herself into his arms, tears spilling onto his shirt.

"Why should you be sorry?" She choked, after several minutes of composing herself through noiseless sobs. He had felt her shaking as she grieved. It was heartbreaking for him. And the news will kill her, he thought.

"Everything they can't forgive me for, Sakura," his tone was grave, but he pressed his lips against her neck. She pulled back from him, taking his hands into hers.

"Let's go…" she faltered, unable to name what had once been her home. He nodded, and she led the short way to her house.

* * *

After unlocking the house with her chakra, she brought him into the place that used to be home. Nothing had changed. The furniture was still in place, dust accumulating accordingly on countertops and bureaus, worn-looking and unused.

Itachi didn't question the state of her living, and she was thankful he didn't. It's nothing like our house. That house is too simple for it to not be beautiful, but this…this was far too large to ever be a ninth of the beauty she'd seen in their home.

Maybe it was that feature that made this house so unwelcome. The fact that she and Itachi had shared a house and a bed and called it 'home' where they both should dwell made that small house beautiful.

"You're crying again," he whispered gently. She didn't feel the tears dripping down her face. The briny taste entered her mouth, and sure enough. She knotted her hands in his black hair, and embraced him. They didn't touch each other's lips, but they didn't need to.

Eventually, they released each other from their intimate contact that expressed almost every bit of their hunger for not wanting to leave the other. Itachi took her hands in his and sat her down on the sofa.

"Sakura," he whispered morosely. She looked at him, alarmed at his tone. It sounds as though he's announcing something worse than his death! Her green eyes were wide with fear.

"Please Sakura…you must understand this is difficult for me…I don't know how to make this easier on you either," however, in reaction to his words, she snuggled into his warm body. She sighed, and put her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat in her ear, thrumming incessantly. A shaky exhaling came from the one underneath her petite form.

"Sakura," he whispered, his voice pleading, and she sat up, further frightened. "I will…live on…" the way he said it was as if he was referring to an old conversation, and she would never forget what he said to her only yesterday. His hand rested on her stomach.

The words clicked with the indication from where his touch fell.

There were no words to describe her feelings. Nothing registered to her mind for comprehension, no happiness, no sadness, only a hollow fear of mingled emotions flitting about her insides, almost making her queasy. She couldn't even cry.

He took her in his arms and held her close, too close to him, and for the first time she heard him cry the tears she couldn't shed. He was human; he was capable of everything humans are known for doing. He made mistakes, she learned first-hand that he could love, but tears…she had no idea that he would ever…

"No," she said gently at first, but the word stuck in her head. The maelstrom of feelings dulled to allow anger to bubble to the surface. "No," she repeated firmly, getting to her feet. Even with tears streaming down his face, he still had composure. He stayed silent, not blanching like she would've.

"I don't want this!" She yelled at him, and she too, found herself crying. "I don't want this," she whispered again. He was still stationary on the couch, but his voice was strong when he spoke.

"Because I will be gone," it wasn't a question. However, his assumption was correct. As she sifted through the catastrophic tempest racing through her mind, she knew the reason she was angry was because he wouldn't be there with her, to see the child.

She realized a second later that he had embraced her, holding her head to his chest, while his lips were against the top of her petal-colored head. She clinched his shirt and gritted her teeth, hushing her urge to cry; the moment too bittersweet.

"I love you more than anything, Itachi," she whispered, "but I don't want to remember you in such a way. It'll hurt too much. I've been hurting too much," and she broke down again, holding fast to his shirt, as though it was her lifeline.

"Sakura," he said, voice muffled a bit by her hair, "I love you, and I want you to live, find someone who will love you too and"—she cut him off.

"No, Itachi, only you—only you can heal me," and though her face was buried in his chest, he managed to pulled her face up to his and kiss her lips softly.

"You'll just end up hurt again," he whispered against her lips, but she shook her head.

"It doesn't matter…" she sighed, touching her lips to his as she spoke. "For now…it doesn't matter…"

* * *

**_TBC..._**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, starts in Itacho POV.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Chapter 11: What Love Does**

The days didn't go by fast, and she looked as though she was cracking with each hour that past. He imagined her thoughts being that of someone planning their suicide. Though, he didn't know what that would look like.

Maybe she'd commit genocide rather than off herself, he thought, as she took a swig from the bottle in her hand—thinking he wasn't looking.

"Sakura," he said, and his arms skillfully wrapped around her. She responded to the touch quickly, though she was clearly drunk by now. He sighed; she was acting as though it was her death and not his. But she has reason to, he thought.

Through the week, she muttered in her sleep. 'The child…what about the child…' and those words haunted him, keeping him awake with her still in his arms. He didn't blame her for dreaming of it. And when she got her check-up, the results of her bearing his child—though she trusted what he had told her—the news hit her with a new pang of grief.

Her reaction caused him to think: what would she do when he was gone? The thought plagued Itachi as well as her sleep talk, and he wondered if there was an afterlife—would he see her soon after entering it? Or would she live on, have his child, and return to him as soon as her time was over?

A day before the day, he was summoned to a meeting with the hokage and council. Itachi didn't know whether or not it was a good thing. Sure they had been debating it over, which was why he had a week—he was sure of that—but what good would it do to give Sakura false hope.

"I'm coming with you," she said, defiant. Her eyes streamed and she sounded as though she had a cold, but it was due to the crying. He wasn't going to argue with her.

"Fine," he said, nonchalant about it. He would rather her stay, but he did not want to upset her further. Her limits had been pushed and she only had one day left with him. She should be allowed to be by his side for as long as she can be.

"Please sit," Tsunade said in formal tones as they entered the office. The council sat to her left and right, all looking at them. Itachi let Sakura hold his hand tightly. Her grasp almost felt desperate to him, and another wave of hurt washed over his heart.

"Nobody but myself knows about what I'm about to disclose here Itachi…Sakura," she inclined her head at each of them as she said their name. His eyes narrowed, unsure about what she was about to say.

"Kakashi Hatake offered to take Itachi's place in the sentencing of death." Her solemn voice made the atmosphere thicken even more. Sakura gave a noticeable look at him, but he didn't spare his eyes the sight of her horror.

"However, I have made an executive decision. The things Kakashi had told me, and with the other acquired information," Sakura's pregnancy—and the physical to prove it, "I am beginning to believe that the genocide of your clan save for yourself had more meaning behind it than what we others could perceive. Therefore, I have come to a resolution to the problem at hand solely."

Now he looked at Sakura, whose eyes were wide and was literally at the edge of her seat, awaiting Tsunade's testament.

"As the majority of us know that Kakashi is to wed, and the fact that he is—despite his horrible habits—an exceptional shinobi, I cannot allow him to take Itachi's place, though I had agreed to it that night he had came to me with the preposition." The news was starting to get Itachi interested. Exactly what's going to happen to me? He thought rhetorically, sitting a little straighter in the chair.

"So, as the Godaime, I will say this: Itachi is to live." A stunned silence followed this sentence. He could hardly believe he had heard her words. Live—but I've killed so many…and you're just going to let me live without anyone to die in return of doing so? There has to be a catch.

"However"—I knew it, he thought—"you must sever your ties with the Akatsuki and marry Sakura as soon as possible—for the honor of what is left of your clans." He felt himself grinning, though he did not act this outwardly. He had already cut off his contacts with the Akatsuki, except for the times he was stopping them from doing anything rash. And as for the latter…he had been planning that while they lived in the surreal village. It seemed so long ago that they had been there, and almost an eternity they had been stuck in Konoha.

"I have completed the first task already, Godaime Tsunade," Itachi stated coolly to her, and she nodded kindly. The council, still stupefied with Tsunade's announcement, sat there in complete silence. Finally, one was bold enough to make the commending statement,

"I'm going to get a drink, anyone with me?" Those simple words seemed to break whatever spell that had been cast, and everyone but Tsunade, Sakura, and Itachi left.

The three sat there, Itachi's eyes staring at Tsunade while she stared right back; Sakura was staring at him. Itachi then stood, and held out his hand to Tsunade. She grasped it in hers for a moment before both let go.

"Thank you," he said in blasé. She nodded and smiled.

"Your clans both needed rebuilding and I couldn't have Kakashi take his life so you, Sakura, could still have love. He did it for you." Itachi looked to see Sakura's shocked face.

"No," she breathed. She was almost in tears to know that someone she had loved was willing to give up everything for her to have that love that he couldn't supply for her. Itachi inwardly smiled when his mind rested on that conclusion for the reasoning of her emotional state, other than she was hormonal. There was a logical explanation, and he liked the one he had devised.

"He did, Sakura, but…after everything he said"—Sakura cut her off.

"What did he say about Itachi to change you mind?" The words were rushed and even Itachi had to strain to register what she had poorly enunciated. He looked at Tsunade, who closed her eyes, deep in thought. Curiosity bit at him as well, and he waited the Godaime's answer.

"He said…" she paused, thinking still, "he said… 'I know you may not believe me when I tell you this…'" she trailed to think again, trying to remember his exact words. " 'I never told you what Itachi did when he took her away from the village, why I thought that she was alive all this time…I know that before I lost consciousness that he had healed Sakura. He used his own chakra to mend a wound on her head, one that he himself had inflicted.'" Itachi didn't scoff, but rather tried to remember that day completely. He knew he had hurt Sakura, and that he had healed her, but that Kakashi saw it…

Emerald eyes gleamed at him when he looked her direction. She removed herself from her seat, and she looked towards Tsunade, bowing low to her.

"Thank you, Sensei," she choked, and Itachi embraced her when she turned into him.

* * *

She had cried tears of pain and agony, suffered a great deal, and to be able to be crying for once in her life because she was happy, made her sobs worse. She blamed her hormones for the strong reaction. Itachi was at a loss for what to do with her. Exasperation kept him away from her house all day. Although, with Ino being the wedding planner…it was more likely it was she keeping him away.

Everything had to be perfect with Ino, and Sakura couldn't agree less. Sakura was already a perfectionist, and she infected Ino with the same liking, so poor Shika and Itachi had to endure the woman as she barked orders and made decisions. There were about two reasons why Itachi was there. One was that he was standing in for Sakura, not wanting her to become too stressed, or two was that he was sparing Shika from being the only male counterpart there. As for Ino's place on the whole overall wedding to quote:

"Thank god he's holding the wedding before you get big!"

With the child, she had yet to see any physical changes in her body, as she was only about two months along. Tsunade said that it would take at least three to four months for any differences to be seen. With everything going on in Konoha, Sakura soon forgot about the surreal life she lived in the village under Itachi's ever watchful eye. She missed it, but she was happy where she was.

Sakura looked up from the book she was reading when she heard footsteps outside. In one lithe movement she opened the door to see Itachi in disarray. His black hair casting darker shadows over his eyes, the sunset made his silhouette glimmer god-like. She smiled and leaned against the doorframe as he approached, purposely revealing her taut stomach by lifting her shirt teasingly. He caught her up in his arms and shut the door behind him.

"You shouldn't look like that in public, it'll set a bad example," he purred against her neck. She pushed him away gently, laughing.

"I do what I please," she grinned at him and he kissed her swiftly. He pulled back before she could return and enjoy the contact between their lips.

"Yes, you do please." She looked at his roguish face and returned his sly smile with a passionate kiss.

* * *

**_End...  
_****_Epilogue next chapter..._**


	12. Chapter 12

**Final Disclaimer: Yes, cry, this is the last time-for this story-that I will say I don't own Naruto.**

**Healing**

**By: Apherion**

**Epilogue**

He surveyed the pictures on the fireplace top. Itachi and Sakura's wedding pictures were what he saw first. Sakura in the beautiful, elaborate gown that Hinata, with the help of Shino, had sewn just for her was in mid-laugh as the camera caught her giving cake to Itachi. Itachi holding Sakura from behind, kissing her cheek as she grinned widely, their hands entwined. Itachi removing the garter from Sakura's leg and Sakura throwing the bouquet.

Kakashi smiled, as he approached the larger set of photos.

Sakura was holding a bundle of blankets, looking exhausted, and Itachi was draping an arm around her shoulders, looking at the bundle—which was obviously their child, the beginning of the new Uchiha clan. There were several pictures of the child. Some pictures were taken with just Mom or with just Dad, some were family portraits. It was Naruto who came to the conclusion not too long ago: the black haired, green-eyed boy looked almost exactly like Sasuke.

As his eyes fell over about seven to ten portraits, he—and nobody else for that matter—couldn't deny Naruto's assumption. The boy in the photographs was getting hugged and kissed by his mother, who was kneeling to his height while the father ruffled his son's hair. Just underneath that jet black hair was a Konoha genin headband, and underneath that, the face of an extremely happy child. Those pictures were taken only yesterday, as today would be the day they would celebrate the occasion.

Luna put her head on his shoulder as they walked around to the back where a party was being held in honor of his newest team: Team Four.

"Kakashi, Luna, I'm glad you've made it!" Sakura said exuberantly. She smiled so wide at them and they couldn't help but beam back. Her eyes flicked over his head, and she yelled, "Sasuke, you had better get down from the roof! Don't you dare jump!" Sakura, like Hinata, was made to be a mother. Kakashi couldn't help but watch her eye her son with that glance she had given him so many times.

Luna shook with silent laughter as did he.

"How's everything?" Sakura said her attention reverted back to them. He smiled at her.

"Fine, in fact, Luna—"

"_We're_," she glared at Kakashi, who just looked aloof, "going to have a child Sakura!" She said with glee. Sakura exclaimed proper enjoyment and hugged the sound-nin that was his wife.

"Sakura, did you see where Mae and Toshima got off to?" Hinata asked, very worried about the other two apart of Team Four, her kids. Kakashi's eyes floated over to the roof to see all three, Sasuke, Mae, and Toshima, standing there.

"Check the roof, Hinata," Kakashi said slyly. Simultaneously, Hinata and Sakura began to shout at the daring younglings. Toshima, the oldest of the group (born four minutes before Mae), was the one who was most like his mother, and quickly obeyed her will. He was also one of the brightest—but not the strongest, much like Sakura was. Mae on the other hand, like Sasuke, stood on the roof defiantly, like Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi was beside himself with silent mirth, remembering how Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura had been at the age he had gotten them, preteens. And now, he had them all over again, at the ages seven, eight, and eight.

This was probably going to be the death of him. He knew Tsunade only did it to him because she was mad at him for beating her in cards a few weeks ago. It was still funny though, because he remembered saying to himself: "I pray for whoever has Naruto's kids in his team." How ironic.

* * *

"Sasuke, if you don't get down this instant, I'll just have—SASUKE!" She was beside herself with fury…well, maybe not. Hinata was shouting at Mae as well because both Mae and Sasuke jumped from the roof. Although they landed in leaves, the roof of the Uchiha manor was at least ten foot from the ground. Toshima was whispering things to Mae and Sasuke, both of whom shrugged and said something back. She could almost bet Sasuke had said: "So, I can jump from twenty feet high without getting a scratch on me."

"Mae, get over here now! You too Toshima!" Hinata raged, getting pinker in the face. Sakura knew she was too, still angry with her child, who was probably the instigator of it all. God, she thought, and all three are in the same team. It's just like us when we were genin…

It took a bit more scolding and several threats of grounding them before her and Hinata let up. The party finished with several pictures of Kakashi, Toshima, Mae, and Sasuke; Toshima, Mae, and Sasuke; Kakashi and each child by themselves; and the parents with their kids. By the end of it though, Sakura wanted to strangle Sasuke for being so obstinate.

"Too much like your father and uncle," she muttered darkly, ruffling his dark hair. His green eyes blinked up at her and they met each others gaze.

"I thought I didn't have an uncle, Mom," Sasuke said confused. Sakura smiled weakly.

"You don't, Sasuke…you only have your father and me." He nodded understandingly. She sat her son down on the couch in the living room and sat with him.

"Do you know why we named you Sasuke?" She asked him, looking at the green-eyed boy sitting next to her. He shook his head and she smiled again.

"We called you Sasuke because your father's younger brother was named Sasuke." He blinked, still puzzled at where the story was going, but he sat patiently—like Itachi.

"You see, I knew your uncle before I knew your father, and your father was with your uncle when he passed on. Your uncle asked your father to look after me, to make sure that I wouldn't get hurt because your uncle wanted me to be protected. We named you Sasuke because if it wasn't for your uncle, your father and I wouldn't be together." She felt tears rolling down her face and her Sasuke leaned his head against her left shoulder and hugged her. She closed her eyes.

"It's ok, Mom." Then she felt a pair of lips press against her cheek and the sofa sink a bit to her right.

"Yes, it's ok _Mom_," a velvet voice whispered in her ear. She laughed and she hugged both Sasuke and Itachi.

"Yes, everything _is_ ok."

* * *

**_End._**


End file.
